To Have and To Hold

The electric warmth and excitement of
a touch, the anxious comfort of knowing 
that somewhere someone awaits your
presence a meeting of mind and body
only serendipitous chance can guarantee
heightens the suspense that a deliberate
search cannot resolve for gregarious
creatures such as we whose life's
fulfillment is dependent on fully
exploring all the promises of existence
with a firm focus on the ultimate goal
of discovering among the multitudes of
people sharing the globe that single soul
whose harmony echoes your own. Best
not to dwell on the reality that among
those you know the tempest of dissimilar
views in a binary relationship dooms it
to failure, best to avoid thinking of the
sadness in the eyes of a distant friend
whom opportunity has failed leaving
them adrift, unanchored in love and in
life. The virtue of patience has no place
in the long, weary wait for completion
for that sensuous touch, the knowing
eyes, the illuminating smile and the
open path chosen by you leading to
that fork meeting the path your other
has chosen moving inexorably toward
destiny, shared and treasured, a gift
beyond measure to have and to hold.