The quest is never really over, is it?
He thought, watching her one day
One always goes on adding a bit here
or removing a bit there
To re-assess your feeling –
A constantly shifting view
Based on…………on what?
Mutual respect? Love? Dependency?
There are givers and takers in life
And you know she is a giver.
Does that make you a taker?
You have to give what you can
And take what you need
Even if it doesn’t seem apparent
You are giving something too.
Some people try to make this simple –
Keeping it less complicated
And of course life is both
And everything else you can think of
Like saying, here I am, not alone, but alone.
The only envy left me now
Is a wish that expatiates
The slow, tender magic of
‘When you are old and gray,’ by Yeates.
August 1995