CLXXVII and CLXXVIII

"Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye" and "A place to place a painful piece of heart"

A man might have a lot of good to say

but tie his tongue for who he might offend.

But I’ve been sore offended in my day

and later learned to make my pride amend.

So goes who knows the answer to a plot

and cannot banter anything he knows—

because he doesn’t know what he has got—

a way to say it in a way that shows.

But if he’d simply say what comes to mind

however half-haphazard it might be,

instead of waiting for the perfect time,

he’d find that someone close might start to see.

Speak not for tears imagined and unseen,

but for the good your offering might glean.

~~~

I’d care for you if you would care for me.

For is that not the only thing we seek?

Ambitions and desires, neglected be,

if we can make this life a bit less bleak.

There’s pain in you, and I would hold it dear,

and you could harbor mine in your warm hand.

Our tears could follow this without a fear:

our sweet tender caresses understand.

There’d be no need for passion or pursuit,

all that we’d need’d be borne by one kind breath.

A nod, a touch, a kiss, our sweet salute,

enough to warm a ravaged heart ‘til death.

I’d care for you, if you would care for me.

Is what I ask a bit too much to be?