"It is a painful thing to love a man . . . to
excess—yet it satisfies—it is great,
But there is something else very great—it makes the
whole coincide . . ."
---Walt Whitman, "Proto-Leaf," 32
Because of your existence's insulation,
you need not fear to love VineLeaf to excess:
to cherish privacies exchanged in conversation,
along with the most exquisite intimation---
thoroughly mastered against perturbation:
neither fear, nor disappointment nor distress,
nor awkward or inhibited hesitation.
Your love for him asserts its desire in place of need:
nourished by your words---and by his glistening seed,
his SweetFroth, released in a seven-surge e'lation.
Starward