Post Hoc Ergo

It isn't hard to recognize why I
In my main madness, love. It is but right,
That seeing, as with some strange second sight,
I ought to see her beauty when I try.
Why should you think it otherwise, or why
Would you assume, because my mind is light,
I cannot see her loveliness, despite
Its glaring obviousness, and so sigh?
No, no, my madness takes a different form:
It is the craze of too much joy at once.
I have still wit enough to keep me warm,
And cogitate quite past the common dunce.
I am stark mad with love; but with means from
And so love's cause is reasoned, and not dumb.

Uncanniness

I would be, should be, happy to come home
And yet I find this trip will not suffice;
It's not exactly that I find I roam,
But that, if I were totally precise,
I'm coming to a halt not home, not out,
But where I cannot be in either case;
A situation fraught and full of doubt
Not suiting to a homelike resting place.
What is the problem? Can't Chicago be
The home that I return to? Why, of course,
And it is often so, at least for me,
Without the need to try it with such force.
But that was when she lived there; now I find
She is the only home I bring to mind.

Wed

A wedding is a cause for massive joy
Assuming those there joined are truly right
For one another. If they but annoy,
Frustrate, provoke, argue, and fight,
There might be reason to object; but here
Where both are so compatible, I find
Nothing but happiness for those who cheer
The wedding on and those the vows must bind.
In such a case, who could be anything
But joyful for the husband and his bride
Joined hand in hand and loving ring to ring
Standing each completed side by side?
Therefore I wish them joy again like this
Each growing day of their new wedded bliss.

Fefu

It's always strange to see a child grown
But stranger when child is no more;
The little one I used to know before
Is now adult, and I'm completely thrown
In good ways only. She that I have known
Is still herself, at least down at the core,
But changed, and better. I cannot ignore
The alteration, which implies my own,
For I am not the same boy who once met
A smaller girl, and found a sister there;
I fear in time I shall come to forget
Those people, but I shan't forget their care:
She's still my friend, still her - and yet now new
I hope all those changes keep her true.

Time After Time

It hasn't been that long since I last said
I loved her; but I think it's been too long.
I wish that I could be with her instead,
But sadly our locations are all wrong
So I'll just have to compensate by saying
I love her, here, wherever she may be;
And though I know my absence is dismaying,
She knows my love will keep her close to me.
I cannot do all things I wish I could,
Nor can I even try some that I might;
But in good time, time will make all things good
And bring us two together, as is right.
I haven't said I love you - now I do
And hope she's happy reading "I love you."

Concourses

There are three options, but I must take one,
And question if the other two exist;
I can but know what I've already done,
Nor can I tell what I, perhaps, have missed.
Perhaps they are the same, or but a twist
On that same formula I know I know;
But it is possible that they are kissed
By better sunshine or a deeper snow.
I cannot truly tell until I go
Where I have never gone, and so pursue
Chimeras in the mist - and I say no.
I'm happy here, and so I choose to do
What I am doing, what I've done before
From deep content, not from the fear of more.

All

A heart should be attachéd to a head,
Which should, in turn, have limbs and bones and such.
Some claim they can do otherwise instead,
But their pretensions don't amount to much.
Even the most emotional of us,
Or those whose spirit carries them away,
Has blood and bile, plasma, piss, and pus,
And all these fluids dribble, drip, and spray.
We are all carnal creatures, and yet all
Bear minds that can be rational and wise;
We all must answer at our bodies' call,
And human need to each of us applies.
So when I say I love you, that means me:
All of my parts loving unitedly.

Eyeing

Hidden in plain sight there gems can be found
That other eyes have even now looked past.
Of course they aren't strewn everywhere around,
But with sufficient care they can, at last,
Be plucked out of what seems to be the air.
Look closely, and be open to the chance
That what you do not see can still be there;
Do not content yourself with one small glance,
But take in all, as slowly as you can,
Letting your senses roll across your mind.
Devote the time it takes to truly scan:
You may be happy with the good you find.
And if, like me, you look with special care
That which you most desire may be there.

Marriage

I am so happy for the lucky pair

That I will celebrate in two days time;

Two friends united in a single care,

Tethered together for a lifelong climb

In which, I trust, neither will falter, yet

The knowledge that the other is beside

Will free the slow ascent from any let,

And save them from the terror of a slide.

I have no worries, no alarmed concern

Of any avalanche along their way;

Each will support the other in their turn,

And should they trip, each is the other's stay.

I wish them luck, although I doubt the need,

And with that luck, I give them both godspeed.

Reignstorm

There are advantages to after-rain,
That slight miasma that is grey and light:
The sky may hold the vestige of its stain,
And hide the sun's sweet beams out of our sight,
But in the equal shine that it provides
There is no harsh direction of the sun;
All ways are possible, and on all sides
The light is true and clear. No shadows run
Behind us, nipping closely at our heels;
In all directions everything is clear.
I know to some this after-rain still feels
Opaque, depressing - but I call that mere
Prejudice. Just look again. You'll see
It is the image of equality.