My Sister, I have been to Paradise!
My place in Heaven I have surely touched;
Although I were not calm enough nor wise
That I in that abode might stay, as much

I wished. Mine Heaven was thine Earth, my sweet,
Thine hand, the hand with which sweet Kali held
And breathed life into cold unyielding heat!
That very primal Earth which is thy world.

And so, with Kali’s hand and Helen’s eyes,
Not knowing what a mortal thou hadst touched,
Thou sent thy brother to his paradise;
A heaven which, too beautiful to love,

Would ever be the prize of Earthy trips:
The Heaven of thine hands, and of thy lips.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all:

Such tears as I do weep are tears of joy;
But sadness is with joy forever twined.
Such tears as purest crystal so enshrined
Should be–such wonders of extreme employ!

Miraculous; for what would once destroy,
And in the very wonder, this would bind
Us to our fate, our destiny of mind
And body, soul and sinew, girl and boy:

In youth did we enjoin the gentle touch,
The halting kiss; and these were each the more
Exciting for the newness of the act;

And through the years, each sweet caress was much
More fine than was the last; and did restore
My faith in Paradise with thought and fact.

This sonnet is part of a short sequence; click here to read it all: