(Borrowed Love)

(Borrowed Love)

William Zong

Love, Untitled

[            I.

    The surge [ returns by 

          [   the darkness of dime-

store sun,            my lost mind

swallowed by the waves.      [

My mouth adjourns;        with 

[            the gatekeeper gone, 

the fireflies           [ arrive 

              on monologue trains.

So I            ] thieve     faded 

          paper and light from 

the moon,    ]   the black ink

bewitching the sun.

The moon is my mind’s

          master; ]            I turn off 

and on,   ] cursing         my 

          volume of the tides. ]

                                          ]

          II.

I’m hiding under the table

          wishing 

     that I’d step out but I don’t.

The warm water keeps rising 

                                        and

I’m starting to drown——I’ll

                         never; I won’t

          step down from my

mind’s cathedral.            [

          Take your time 

        to grab me by the throat.

                                        ]

 

          III.

Just like the seed I wait to

          grow, moistened

in the cold     darkness of dew.

How much I want to live 

      and love like 

          every    day    is    my

                                 last. [ Yet to

live there must be something

                    left to love. ]

Open the gate;

                  I could care for you.

 

              IV.

My arms are open

                              for you now,

     waiting for the river to turn.

[ Anywhere 

          it goes, I will come

too ]——There is nothing

                                  of concern

       in this world of adaptation.

Open my mind and let me

                                          learn.

              V.

Who would’ve known

              that the World had a

magical sensibility?           You’ll

amaze yourself [ half-awake

      half-asleep     

                             discovering

                     me. Like a spool

of thread I unravel to be lost.

              You’re no God; 

                       I am but a fool.

              VI.

To me here             in my chest

    the fly calls run         [ endless

    above winter’s wonder laid,

hidden ]     in a hidden place.

      There lies the sensibility,

[         deserts of vast eternity.

No fate, world can turn it dark

]      when nature sings in lark.

I look at you;

                            you look at me.

       We laughcry until our eyes

fill the ocean around our love.

How small paradise is to be

                                     enough.

              VII.

Darling, 

      [     be the closest we 

      can get,       sole to sole

                  boko-maru style

            better than any      ]

                                                love.

            VIII.

      Follow me to the line, 

      hand in hand, to claim

                       every field, every

mountain, every river, every

wandering                  [ every ]

            soul——Each and every

      being 

      [       united in peace      ]

shall be saved.

      My life becomes my reverie.

            IX.

But, now[ Reverie be blessed,

                  a dream cannot self-

            sustain in harsh reality. ]

our world is dying 

                    [ that much is true ] 

and you and I are

all dying too.         [ The grass is

            brown and the seas are

                                    bloodred. ]

Can you hear its cries? 

                                    [ They fill

            my mind

every day and night. ]

Our world is dying. 

            [ Then, now for eternity

            ’s sake we shall join our

            hands one last time and

enter               the gate inside. ]

            X.

Let me live in your eyes,

                                 [ unbiased

by desire ] basked in a beauty

greater than Life: 

            the key to every

open door. I’m so lonely

                        to be this full 

      and so lost to be this whole.

Take I for eye; 

                            undo me to me.

            XI.

      You promised

I was the one who was crazy,

[       ever number tallied      for

a score, every body

            you ran over

                              for a game ]

      ——I swear that you swore

to never

      leave me in the dark alone

I’ll listen to you

                        just once more.

           

            XII.

      Commit 

to making me happy and we

      can be stronger than ever.

                  [ I know you 

      loved before I met you

      but forget. ] Pull the lever

and open an old lover’s chest.

      You had it before; 

                              but I never.