Troth

poem

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Having said that you and I are one

Having sworn that nothing could divide us

Having said desire should only bind us

I should love

You to the edge of nothingness;

Have you see,

Were I dead, in every shade a shadow

That was mine – or yours? If I were dead;

Say I am dead, what then? I’d live

Were you alive, I said I’d never leave you:

My heart would rot away, and I should live

In echoes, thoughts, and transformations

Lying in the grave; so quit of bones

I’d go about the earth, tormenting you

Until your tears had grown a fountain

And you longed for death yourself –

So we should live

All in your life: a thought, that’s all,

It’s just to pass the time; I want only

Life, and you, and nothing more;

I only said I’d never leave you.

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