I Try to Keep
I try to keep
falling in love
if only to keep
death
at bay.
I know
that the burned
witches,
that the seared flesh
of the enemy–
O we are all
each other’s
enemies,
even sometimes those
who lately
were
lovers–
are not
to be reconstituted
nor healed
by my
falling
in love;
& yet
here is
the paradox:
love drives
the poem–
& the poem
is
hope.
