buy me a ring
to wear through the winter
when nights lean to cold –
some solace to be
would trade every vow
for an old woolen blanket
and a story you told
only me

build me a house
at the edge of the river –
a place where the muscadine grows
wild as the weeds twisted about us –
nightbirds and wishes
returning to home

read me the poem
you wrote me that summer
when first came to seek
a lesson in rhyme
tease me with comforts
I might have resisted
had verses been all
you gave
of your time

share me the night
of hunters and halos –
guard me a place
untouched by the stars
remind me to breathe
without thought to surrender
of where we are going –
the same as we are

carve me a song
from maple and cypress –
chisel each note to my skin
rock me away
on the tide of a whisper
and dream me
to heaven (to heaven)
again