IF I LOVE YOU

If I love you, woman of rose

And warmth and wondering eyes,

If it so fall out

That you are the woman I choose,

Oh, what is there left to say,

And what should it matter to me,

Or what can it mean to you?

For under the two white breasts

And the womb that makes you woman

The call of the ages whispers

And the countless ghosts awaken,

And stronger than sighs and weeping

The urge that makes us one,

And older than hate or loving or shame

This want that builds the world!