My Child Grown

If you were in honesty here Standing real and flesh in front of me, And the things of life were different from the now of it... I would take one deep breath And look upon you fully grown to beauty; I would take one strong hand into my own And say to you: Give in earnest to me..no debt, And the love I cannot find in this life Nor anywhere but books and dreams... Give in earnest to me With no insidious touch, Your honor for my honor... With every trace of desire evident As a twice told truth Shining behind some forged, implacable masque Confronting me... And even in the wilder moments When I wonder in a fevered mind Made brittle with the yearning, If this is all invention made desperate in the need: I merely have to see My own wounded soul Sprawled upon the floor And wonder again if it would have been different at all If you were here.... I love you, Daughter Mine.