My Santiago

Give me Love (2)

Give me the beauty of youth, love, The fingers thrill - touching

Eyes across - the - room Beauty of youth, love.

Bequeath to me the tenderness of youth, love, The first tremulous touch Hands - on - a - curve

And the symmetry of bodies As they meet and fit, love.

Grant me the gay abandon of youth, love, The first tentative meeting, That knowing - she - is - yours feeling And the running - home - in - rain - aftermath Touched - to – your - core that love has found you, love.

Gift me the chemistry of youth, love, The wondrous certainly Of the rightness of The way it feels With that one person Picked – out – of - 8 billion, love.

And yield to me (even this) the wasteland of middle - aged, love, The first – love – wasted Warts and all Stasis and boredom – tasted Directionless – love – lost, love; The first - love – is - now - forgotten

Grim – survival – day – to - day Lives of quiet desperation, love

It occupies a place.

But then, reward me the earned beauty of age, love, The pathos of time ebbing Life – etched – in - a - face And the certainty of a love

Hanging tight over pain, sickness, and all that came before, love.