And With Hands Warmed by Moonlight

I received a poem from you on Valentine's
With one condition
If our bond does crumble
Then I must—that piece—return
Made me ponder quite some time
What I'd receive from your possession
Is my heart your art's collateral
And must all your love be earned

Poets play in the glass of their broken hearts
It's sacrilegious to make art a privilege
My craft and love are placed on an altar
Burnt offerings of a sweet savor
Yours are leased
Before vows at altar
Learn to give without fear of what time might alter

Cloudy
But I spot a ray of moon, shining

Never one to run my race slowly
'Cause quickest way down rabbit hole's falling

Holding, thee
Tightly
Is a highlight of the week
For me

I could live in your
Healing embrace
Pray that I don't drown in lust's sea

Penny-pinching
Wincing, when I brought my card out
Thinking, how I could afford to take a girl out

Uni, didn't dish a penny out to help me
Mommy, shouldered all the burden of that money

So, while Ma saw patients
Figured, I, could at least be patient

Graduated early
Figured that was how I could fight prices
And save myself from the system's suffocating embraces

Not without my vices
Yes I lived quite crazy
Danced and drank and more
Nevertheless I wasn't lazy

Learned the art of engineering in both DAW and IDE
Chiseled skill of talking people down upon the crisis line
Manna in the wilderness is now no longer meant for me
Now I feast on fruit of Canaan
Forty years did pay the fine

Reason
Might implore
That I swim
Close to shore
But my vim
Won't be ignored

Question posed
Whom I'd find well suited
Answered
"Someone cute, kind, and committed"

Worry
I'm no more than recreation

Overboard as soon as boat is heavy
Perch until you leave to fly again

She's a, gift, not a trophy
I, look into her eyes, and I see
Why I'm loyal to her even in my dreams

Choosing to water a union with lies
Or with all semi-truths one can devise
Engenders resentment
And weakens foundation of any connection
Remain I transparent
Sink I rather with conviction than float with equivocation
Make my stance apparent, though I ken I'm errant
John Hancock big on each declaration

I, speak in terms of when not if
But I truly recognize that we all operate
Under His benevolent will
If my plans do fall off cliff
I will thank the Lord for making me the soil He did choose to till

Wonder when you say
"If God wills it," if it's a way
To acknowledge His providence
Or so to vent ambivalence

I have imbued my works of art
With the motif of being wary
More than forty thousand profiles searched
To find the one to marry

So I understand you being wise
But I get a sense, that you are hoping
Someone tells you otherwise
Loving blindly's not what I'd advise
But, when you put your glasses on
Please trust the light that meets your eyes

You, elected me, as your captain
Said it'd be a worthy death, if we ended up crashing
I've been approved by, all of your kin and
Each of your friends, gave me, a warm blessing

But I, fear the, way
You'll say, "I do"
Feel terms and conditions
Behind your, "I love you"

Gusty
Evenings in the belly of summer

Howling winds and windows made foggy
By evaporated sweat and breath's moisture