496 and 497

I do enjoy, more than the best of all,

more than the cream of any given crop,

more than for what an auctioneer might call,

and more than what lies listed at the top,

and more than any one thing on display,

or that which boasts the window of the store,

or that which tempts a billionaire to pay

infinite sums simply to have some more,

yes, I enjoy, more than any of these

great treasures that are tickling your mind,

a rare assortment that I’ll always seize

faster than any treasure you could find:

you keep the best of any one thing, see—

I’ll keep the crude if there’s variety!

~~~

A few more, please. A few more days give me

without another there to hinder thee

from seeing me. Be lone one season more,

O thou whom I most cherish and adore.

Let not another’s heart take thine for now,

but my own heart’s affections still allow.

Speak out to me, and not another, yet,

before thy sacraments are newly set.

For they must be. Thy oaths and heart as well.

‘Tis even as I said that thou shouldst dwell

on earth and, too, in heaven, for its part;

but, so, shalt be divided thy good heart.

The God of all creation said to me

while I wondered where my own Eve might be.