And I gave myself to the poem. And the poem gave to me. And I gave myself to the sky. And the sky gave to me. And I gave myself to the wind. And the wind took what I gave and passed it to the sky. And I gave myself to women. And women gave to me. And I gave myself to the wound. And the wound gave to me. And I gave myself to hope. And hope took what I gave and passed it to the wound. And I gave myself to wine. And wine gave to me. And I gave myself to candlelight. And candlelight gave to me. And I gave myself to memory. And memory took what I gave and passed it to candlelight. And I gave myself to music. And music gave to me. And I gave myself to the tree. And the tree gave to me. And I gave myself to change. And change took what I gave and passed it to the tree. And I gave myself to silence. And silence gave to me. And I gave myself to light. And light gave to me. And I gave myself to night. And night took what I gave and passed it to the stars.
Copyright © 2013 by Howard Altmann. Used with permission of the author. This poem appeared in Poem-A-Day on December 6, 2013. Browse the Poem-A-Day archive.