Love After Love
The time will comeĀ
when, with elationĀ
you will greet yourself arrivingĀ
at your own door, in your own mirrorĀ
and each will smile at the other's welcome,Ā
and say, sit here. Eat.Ā
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heartĀ
to itself, to the stranger who has loved youĀ
all your life, whom you ignoredĀ
for another, who knows you by heart.Ā
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,Ā
the photographs, the desperate notes,Ā
peel your own image from the mirror.Ā
Sit. Feast on your life.
Ā [Image ID: Carnegie Heart (1986) by Jim Dine]