-- I Would but Yearn --

   John Herlihy

I would but yearn for what I do yearn,

Tenderness with enduring love.

Such emotions in the heart smolder and burn,

Reflections of light from above.

I would but seek for what I do seek,

Knowledge wrapped in wisdom.

From pride and arrogance to stay meek,

Not a pauper, but a prince in his kingdom.

I would but find what I may find,

Evidence of lasting peace.

All the rest I will leave behind,

Until the tremors of my aging heart cease.

I would but live as we all should live

Merciful, generous, kind.

With open hearts ourselves freely to give,

Innerly seeing, outwardly blind.

I would but die as we all must die,

Wind whispering amid brittle bones.

Overhead trees utter their mournful sigh,

Silence amid earth and stones.

I would but see what is there to be seen,

Lightning bolts, butterflies.

Absorb artifacts of nature to know what they mean,

Ladybugs, grasshoppers, fireflies.

I would but hear what is there to be heard,

Silence of heaven of the earth.

Sacred revelations spoken aloud word by word,

Light in the soul to unearth.

I would but smell what is there to smell,

Pungency of musk and camphor.

Uplifting the spirit by the secrets they tell,

The aromatic spirit of the rose that we all adore.

I would but taste what is there to taste,

The sweetness of chocolate, the creaminess of milk.

The cornucopia of nature bounty never to waste,

The juiciness of grapes, the sourness of buttermilk.

I would but touch what is there to touch,

The sweet innocence of caress.

Feather fingers exposed skin to brush

That flow into the mind with rhapsodies that bless

I would but write what needs to be written,

Poetic verses that gracefully age.

Once a life lived by the Divinity smitten,

Mind of an eagle, heart of a sage.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 17 March 2023