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Book With A Buckle

The cover was leather-bound
Holding the contents tight
The pages worn with worry
From many a restless night

When words were only comfort
And confidence held in hand
Paper an unjudging confessor
A passive friend to understand

That life is a complicated maze
Of choices, decisions, their toll
Of purpose, meaning, definition
Pages of a diary of written full

So very like the depths of heart
Not secrets so much concealed
As dreams, wants, and feelings
Carved into person, and revealed
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008

Agape

Tongue-tied
For how I stared,
Devouring you
With my eyes.

No words
Would have prevented
My invasive glance
And the terms it took.

Mind-tied
For all the love I felt.
Memorizing you left
My heart opened wide.
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008

Agape: wide open; being in a state of wonder.

Agapism professes that love (or "agape") should be the sole ultimate value and that all other values are derived from it, or that the sole moral imperative is to love. Theological agapism holds that our love of God is expressed by loving our fellow man. As the ethics of love, agapism indicates that we should do the most loving thing in each situation, letting love determine our obligation rather than rules. Alternatively, given a set of rules, agapism indicates to follow those rules which produce the most love.

Forgone

Like an amputee
The limb is gone
And it has been

But the rest of me
Still expects it to be
There where it was

I must catch up
To its absence
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008

Recklessly Irresponsible

It's because I cared
If not
I never would have tried

I would have shown
No effort
Reckless, but sure

So very much at stake
And then
Irresponsible, of course

The reverse continues
I care
And therefore I cannot

For so much matters
And I
Simply step aside
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008

Succulence

Succulence, a saucy matter
And anyone would agree;
Flavor is in spicing
Finding the right degree.

Mouths sometimes crave sour;
Tongues often want sweet.
Where tastes intertwine,
Palette and appetite meet.

What minds, fingers satisfy,
Only memorized recipe can call.
The brilliant measures taken,
That seasoned tastebuds recall.
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008

Firefly

I found you
I saw you
I felt you
I tasted

You were only light

I hadn't thought
You even existed
Pure magic, not myth
Yet there you were

Illuminating life for me
Until, like light, you quickened

Vanishing into the night
- Mary O. Fumento, 2008