my soul spoke true words and I gave voice to them:
when I look at you, there is only joy in my heart.
a half century it took to empty my cup of nettles,
the restless and unquiet stinging.
the salve is mixed from purity,
two souls more naked than sunlight.
it is love that straightens the stem
and cups the petal for dew.
my eye unblinking and shorn of doubt
casts softly your nimbus smile.
submerged are all my fleeting continents
in a quiescent sea of gratitude.
no greater joy than this
is to see you as you are.