Let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you,
Love you, savour you, bless you,
Before you depart.
Let me not pass you by
In a quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may,
For it will not always be so.
One day I shall dig my fingers
Into the earth,
Or bury my face in the pillow,
Or stretch myself taut.
Or raise my hands to the sky,
And want more than all the world:
Your return.
Mary Jean Irion
