Poems (Bibesco)/XXI
XXI
The sky's too full for mortal to discoverA little star that privately will shine.If you are love, then I will be no loverTaking from you the glory that was mine.
You took my secret but you did not know it.—Secrets will die in alien custody—If you are poetry I am no poet,For I disdain your stolen melody.
A thief of suns and moons and stars, that danglesMisleading glitter before empty minds.Your greedy soul will grasp the golden spangles,Lovers and poets scatter to the winds.
Yet you are poetry and love and passion,And that fulfilment which is called despair,The grinding force that still must fake and fashionEach falling fancy, floating on the air.
For you are love and I, alas! I know it,And you the poetry I could not smother.And that, my love, is why I am no poet,And that, my love, is why I am no lover.