Ephemera (Buck)/Copper and Gold

by Mitchell Starrett Buck

COPPER AND GOLD

Browned by the desert sun and the swift wind, lithe and strong, thine eyes aflame with conquest, thou seekest me out; thou layest thine hand upon me.

Beside thee, I pale; and yet, because I am a woman, I can bear thine hand upon me and thy kiss upon my lips. I have become precious as a rare jewel because thou lovest me; and strong because I have looked upon thee and I have known thee, O my Well-Belovèd.

And I will love thee not only in the night when the soft air breathes of the slumbering flowers, but also in the flaring mid-day when the light of thine eyes blinds me and the world throbs in the glory of the sun.