HOLD ME TO YOUR WILLING HEART

                                                 

                                                            Hold me to your willing heart

                                                            And let me—help me—weep

That I of need might fall apart

And then at last might sleep.

                                                            Let the truth slice into me

                                                            That I might finally bleed

And purge myself of agony

I cannot now concede.

                                                            For I have bound myself in light

                                                            That I might live in joy,

And cannot—will not—let the night

My bonds of love destroy.

                                                              And yet I know if I would gain

                                                             The peace for which I pray,

I must allow the floods of pain

To wash my love away.