My Love Is Both a Hunger and a Giving - Happy Valentine's Day

My love is both a hunger and a giving,

A need to have and also to bestow,

A lavish lust for flesh and yet a yearning

For beauty as austere as polished stone.

I want more than my life your happiness,

And yet my happiness depends on you.

Like a child I linger in your shadow

While like a parent I take you in my arms.

I want to be the sun to fill your sky

While like a rose I open to your smile.

I want to be the air you breathe, your music,

While like the sand I wait upon your sea.

So like and unlike, my love is doubly bonded,

The joys of giving and receiving joined.

This day of love it is my gift to you,

A heart you can consume yet keep forever.

by Nicholas Gordan