“Intimate Diplomacy by Stewart Stafford

Love comes as drought and flood,
Lost and found since primal mud,
Lifelong search for a vacant shape,
A vision strange from toe to nape.

Love can and does self-mutate;
Irresistible, immovable to immolate,
Intangible, yet taken to the grave,
A survivor's firestorm for the brave.

Fireside dote, in loving memory,
A dusty portrait in life's treasury,
Unknown sought, dear friend missed,
An inner smile that fortune kissed.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”