In the Promise of Joy
I released my gathered anger,
let my resentments spread their wings and fly away,
set my hatreds afloat on the river’s current
toward a far-off shore.
To envy I said, “You are free.”
And in the promise of joy,
I set free the long-time dwellers of my heart.
I turned happy memories into watercolor portraits
and kept them pressed between the pages of my mind.
I captured fleeting moments in the strokes of my pen.
I caged love gently within my emotions,
and fed my enthusiasm in the shelter of my feelings.
And again, in the promise of joy,
I welcomed new tenants into my heart.
To forgiveness I said, “Stay with me.”
To love I said, “Don’t leave.”
To affection I said, “Come again.”
To tenderness I said, “You are mine.”
And at the very end,
to joy I said, “You will come… won’t you?”
