CREDIBLE LOVE

 If you would only bleed because I bleed,
 Then I should know the dear reality
 That you, yourself, have care for my true need,
 And that your love has actuality.
 
 If you would put away the puppet strings
 With which you seek my being to control 
 Choose, rather, that my substance should have wings,
 To soar and plunge, magnificent and whole.
 
 Then to your ready words I'd give my trust 
 Trust you to honour me and seek to bless,
 Trust that your love is something more than lust,
 Trust that you seek to give, not just possess.
 
 But, all the time your words are wooing me,
 I see another face beneath the charm,
 Face of the beast that is pursuing me:
 A face of darkness, which would do me harm.

by Lynne Tait.
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