Stephen is a web developer, Bahá'í, and interfaith activist in St. Paul, Minnesota. He likes to write about religion, social justice, sustainability, science, programming, &c.

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poetry, prose, and other strings of words · 1993 - 2003

A Valentine's Fragment

Number 152

February 14, 2001

I.
Only the fool says he is incapable of living
     without an other,
Only the hopeless romantic makes his
     home in the delusion of attachment.
Tabarsi should be our realm of
     action, not the Globe.
Nevertheless, we are given to love one another.
And just as a tree reaches for the nourishment
     of the heavens yet remains rooted in the
     Earth, so should we be.
Hardly can we hope to fulfill our purpose by
     denying our Mother.

II.
I inhale your presence—uplifting as
     a beautiful sunrise, as punishing as
     an ocean swell.
But the ocean cannot touch that which
     isn't at the shore,
And the rose of dawn is sweeter still.

III.
Life is fraught with storms—
     But as the rain cleanses the fields,
     The lightning renews the rhythms of
          the forest,
So do the tests we face.