human love

it's been a long time
since I allowed a man
inside this temple

I must admit
there was a statute here
it looked strangely like my father

and I prayed by this statue
measuring all who would dare enter
by his height and demeanour

I would cast them in different roles
and they would oblige
wearing different masks

after all, this is my temple
I call it sacred
and perform my little rituals by moonlight

so it must be sacred
if I meditate long enough
and I burn just the right incense

then how come the door is locked
I wonder as I do admit
men have spent a night or two within

be gone, I would tell them
as morning would break me open, be gone
and shut the door behind you

they would oblige
and I would sigh in relief
while putting out the fire

yet there will come a day
oh, may that day be this one
when statues fall and love shall rise

a day when I am standing naked
in the doorway of my sacred temple
unafraid to see and be seen

a day when I stand up and say
yes, 'we can love each other
even if we don't fully love ourselves yet

simply because it is the loving and heartache
that feeds our self love
so i take this vow

to cease denying myself
in this human love
just because I feel it is incomplete, imperfect and messy'

and while I wait and pray
to rise in love
and be one with all that is

I will also shout from the rooftop
of my sacred temple
I am open to human love.