RENUNCIATION

Not what I ask, but what I do not ask,

O my Beloved, proves my love for you.

And love can set to love no harder task

Than wistful silence, reticence to sue.

I lock my lips, I force a wise content

With all my being wailing for a sign.

Ah, if men knew what woman's smiling meant

When fierce and hard the heart cries out “He's mine.”

Mothers of men are we, we barren ones

Who say “Be happy, dear, and play your part.”

What matter how we yearn, you are our sons

Whose every footfall breaks a woman's heart.