Endless Love

all she wanted was a place
to unwrap her long-folded heart
now bursting at its seams,
a place where her smiles lengthened
like warm shadows
growing and glowing
over a seamless, full-bloomed day;

all she wanted was a place
where she could walk or dance
unburdened, unleashed;
a place where her soles could kiss the soul
of a giving, affirming earth,
where her breath moved freely
through countless hidden pores,
for she was born out of endless breath;

all she wanted was a place
to die and give birth to herself
over and over again;
not for once stopping to hold
and change her course
seeded by a fickle will,
but to fill every nook and crevice
of wounded hearts with little room
for themselves and others;

all she wanted was a place
where she could stretch and spread
her unused wings into the vastness
of a wind-swept sky; for
you cannot bring the ocean to a river,
but you can call upon the unhewn wind
to fill an empty bottle or hollow reed
with formless, endless love.