Reciprocating Love
(for Heidi and Pierre)
We love each other with our minds
And all the senses we possess,
Vowing we’ll always try to find
Ways to sustain shared happiness.
We both reciprocate our love
In every small particular
As each of us competes to prove
That we are not superior;
For each yields to the other’s mind –
Renouncing self-pride’s lusty strength –
Since, when we give ourselves, we find
Our love’s return rich recompense.
We’ll build our love on honesty
That is the source of simple trust
And fountainhead of loyalty;
Corrosive doubt turns trust to rust!.
Open, receptive each to each,
In wise discretion’s hopefulness,
We help our love extend its reach
In sympathetic tenderness.
If it is true that love’s force fades
From early passion’s thrills to calm
Of full maturity’s more staid
Affections, that need cause no harm.
Whatever future times may bring
To us, of troublous care or pain,
Our conjoint will, (we trust), shall win
Love’s present pleasures back again.
Shared love is like such strong, deep roots
As feed some floral tree of joy
Which daily ripens wholesome fruits
Whose varied savours never cloy.
Those comforts which our love supplies
Will keep minds young, though flesh grows old;
Whilst in the warmth of childrens’ eyes
Our hearts may be preserved from cold.
We love each other in our hearts
And all the senses we possess.
We know that we shall never part
If we promote shared happiness.
