i ask the impossible

I ask the impossible: love me forever.
Love me when all desire is gone.
Love me with the single mindedness of a monk.

When all the world and its entirety,
and all you hold sacred, advise you
against it: love me still more.   

When rage fills you and has no name: love me.
When each step from your door to your job tires you-
love me,
and from job to home again.

Love me when you’re bored-
When every woman you see is more beautiful than the last,
or more pathetic, love me as you
always have:
not as admirer or judge,but with 
the compassion you safe for yourself
in your solitude.

Love me as you relish your loneliness,
the anticipation of your death,
mysteries of the flesh, as it tears and mends.

Love me as your most treasured childhood memory;
and if there is none to recall-
imagine one,
place me there with you.
Love me withered as you love me new.

Love me as if I was forever,
and I will make the impossible
a simple act,
by loving you , loving you as I do.