Desire
By John Herlihy

What happens when our desires show up,
Wagging their tails like an expectant pup.
Sometimes, the days pass in sheer wanting,
Around every corner lies our desires taunting.
Money, success, friendship and of course love,
Desires enough in the world to fill a white glove.
Our desires fill our mind like a long lost friend,
We welcome them with open arms, we unbend.
We can’t get enough of them, they are all ours,
They loom in our imagination like lofty towers.

What happens when our desire fails to show up,
A lack of will power that never seems to let up.
Sometimes, the days pass with nothing to sing,
We feel like birds hiding under a shivering wing.
Emptiness makes no sense, we want desire instead,
The scroll of one’s life as parched as a dry riverbed.
Waiting for a sign, anything, to glimpse one’s desire,
A sudden clearing of cloud, of mist, anything on hire.
Some landmark that makes an appearance on high,
Our desires, like wayward stars, in an unswept sky.