When I say I love you, I mean that I want
all the authorities of this world
to tiptoe politely when they are around you.
I mean that I want violence to melt away
in your presence; I mean that I want
you to eat good food and breathe clean air,
always. I mean above all
that I want the media and the music
and the airports and the theaters
to stop insulting you; I mean that I want them
to shrink with shame in your beautiful presence.

So I pray to nothing
for the systems which are not built on love
to come crumbling down
leaving love standing naked and needless of defenses
in the wreckage, preparing to rebuild
a better form. I'm afraid it won't survive
the demolition. But I want for my love and its world
an unprecedented freedom.

And since I cannot provide these things,
I become crazed with a thwarted passion.
Love wants power; power to produce,
power to heal, power to help. And lack of money
gets in its way constantly.