Poem: Love Song for Adam
Raise up your head, and look me in the eye
So that I can see how genes and neurons
And the broken waste of long-exploded suns
Braid into the fiber, the wick of alchemy
From grossest fuel to most sublime soul.
Stand before me, and do not be afraid
That I can see the scars of too many harsh days,
The faint trembling of imperfect weakness,
The gray hairs, the crow's feet,
And the wisdom of a life lived on earth, not in heaven.
Today is for you, beloved one:
Let me do for you what you insist I need.
Let me praise your name throughout the worlds,
For without you there would be no dreams,
No hopes of tomorrow, no yesterdays of pain,
No movement save only blind fumbling,
No change without ruthless destruction.
Let me honor you, who have worked so hard,
The one who strives first for purity,
Second for mercy,
And finally, at the end of faith, for redemption.
When angels fall, they fall forever,
But your hope is eternal,
Your will is indomitable,
And the distance behind you so vast
That you look at your home and your family
And think that perhaps you are a changeling,
Begotten not of flesh and blood
But instead of quicksilver thoughts
And blinding passions and resolve like iron.
How can you think, still, that you do not deserve me?
How can you hold such triumph in your hands,
Build things which no dwarf or fairy ever dreamed,
And love, through all the trials of entropy,
And still not be content? But discontent itself
Endears you to me, for nothing else in all the stars
Knows to care
Or cares to know.
Just for one day, let me take your burden
So that you may stand tall on feet of clay,
So that you can raise your head and look into my eyes
And see how much I love you.
