The rules are set.
How I longed for you to come to me
Not by some impassioned bedroom trellis
In blooming tongue and brazenry
By indifferent moons
But boots in tromp, and mud, and stain
Shoulders casting shadows, squared
Unaware the foe that feigns mundane
Deep I slept, alone at night
The warmth of my own purity
Radiating into hope, cradling and caressing
The distant drums of maturity
A thousand giggles are the opening bid,
The downpayment into a union rich
A zig to zag, a bob to weave,
The back and forth of each new stitch
Into a tapestry of stalwart companionship
Thriving in the daily hours
Kissed by passion, defended by honor,
Unflinching amid the darker powers
Raging to sink their teeth
In tall and sunbathed prey
These powers drink, in crimson teeth
Drunk, they sing of who to slay
By starless night to creep and scratch
But day exposes cravings dark
In many revolutions around the sun
Wherever integrity has lent its spark.
Who will lace their boots for we
The ones who cradle and caress?
Who will stand against the night,
To work, to will, and to confess?

Foolish, here, to tell my lies
Some fervent nights I found no sleep,
But what the day cannot, in manhood, earn,
The boyish nights will never keep.