Love Like Water

I will have love like water, not wine.

Grape-stained alcohol dulls the mind,

Frays the senses to bare thread,

Curdles the stomach, bloodies the head.

For me, no perfume but your sweet skin,

No incense but the scent of your hair,

No drugs, no madness; I won't let them in.

No riot, just love–silent, calm, and bare.

Come to me, then, when the drunk fit goes,

And I will teach you: Love's like water, cool

As the snow of morning, sweet as the rose,

Pure as the mountain air and sun.

Come to me, when wine's course is run;

Taste love like water, not mad, not cruel.

–1995