If I could find
A simple way
To love all things
That are touched by day,

To admire those
Unwritten thoughts
That dance at night
And whisper when found,

Then in a breathing,
Reckless leap
I’d follow after
He who speaks

Such wondrous words
And lovely lines
And gives to life
That embracing shine.

I’d shiver to behold
Such magic fingertips
That touch unfamiliar shades
And turn them to divine

Pages illuminated all in gold,
A captured heart,
Beyond the popularity sold
For mere convenience and control.

So much more the power
Of lighting bright
The fire of interest and care
Than spite

For what is unfamiliar
And bold to our senses
Simply by virtue of being new,
Something from a distant land

That grew in soil we never tread
And soaked up ideas
From other sources,
Water cool but reflecting strange discourses,

Colors filtered through different clouds,
Pale reflection, vivid crowds,
Full of life that—could it be?—
Is alike to that in you and me

But wears some other jaunty clothes
That startle us from our calm repose
And often as not set us on our toes,
With anxious disposition.

Lost time, that spent in needless fear
Of things that come from other spheres.
Instead let me find the key
That opens each next corridor

Until I’ve managed to build a love
For every corner of humanity’s halls,
The home we share with ages past,
With hope and pain, and life lived fast.

If you can take my hand and lead
Me just one step on this broad street,
I’ll trust the warmth of your embrace
And start by loving you.

Then as we share the sights we’ve seen
We’ll come to widen our belief
And reach out easily to others still
Who need a brighter song,

Loving all the days we have,
The nights that are soon gone,
And as we come nearer the close
We may as yet discover

That the best of life we ever knew
Was confiding in each other.