On self-preservation

To find a democratic lover amid this swirling mess
Comparable to thine own maternal vigilance
Favors a less enduring chance
Than finding a shell rising upon the sea

You saw our dialogue as merely an affection
And viewed my instinct as a measure importune
Emotions played upon this sudden miscombine
And put at odds with one another's lots

I consider nothing else than poetry and prose
Will guide you to my idol's sullen door
To pins on you the ashes
Of a love considered base

But here is a man neither saint nor holy sinner
Whose rarity and focus shines a light
On inborn virtue hovering o'er time
Makes up for the love you've lost alone

From all the creatures in heaven's glow
Desire tells the snail to crawl at pace
While a fool roils himself before all mankind
And dancing is consumed before the pyre