IF YOU LOVE THE BODY
If you love the body you must know the bone
that ribs and peoples it; deeper than flesh you feel
the beauty. That will last, simply as stone
upheaves in season where the winter rain
rakes asters and drooping cornstalks from a hill.
If you love the body you must know the bone
of fingers that touch, of the high case where the brain
lurks, of the deep knock and door and sill.
The beauty that will last, simply as stone
remains, is what you love when the blossom is gone –
petals and sepals and stem, roots and soil –
if you love the body you must know. The bone
smiles behind our faces when we frown,
knowing while the sweet flesh will not hold
the beauty, that will. Last, simply as stone
lasts, my love. For saying what I can
I ask forgiveness – in time we’ll know it well.
If you love the body you must know the bone,
the beauty that will last simply as stone.
by Richard Tillinghast – from Sleep Watch