Unloved

Like the gnarled old tree

     On the distant hill

That the winter’s fierce gale

     Whips and bends at will,

Like the ship far at sea

     Minus compass or spar,

Like the heavens at night,

     No moon and no star,

Like the bests of the plain

     That wander and rove,

Like an envassaled brain

     Is life without love.

Feb. 9, ‘07