For Lindsay
What power lies hidden in beauty’s eyes –
Enchanting and mysterious – to seize
My heart; kindling passion undisguised
By modesty? Could any galaxy’s
Stars counterfeit the radiance I find
In those orbs? O, even angels enskied
Must praise the brightness of heaven outshined;
Mere ash compared ‘gainst emeralds rarified.
But, time has cursed me to live in shadow,
Lacking the incandescence of your grace;
And yet, I will stumble forward unbowed,
Desiring thy kiss ere death’s embrace.
While words can
celebrate organs of sight,
These verses pale in your
eternal light.