Is it possible
to die of tenderness?

At times my heart so fills
with unexpected kindness
that I fear it may burst.

So many poets–
with frightening beauty–
bring to vivid life
the inevitability of death.

And then, in a second's time,
I witness such delicate sweetness:
one cat seeks out the other, and they curl together–
raw affection, unselfconscious, unfiltered;
a child trusts a parent, reaches for a hand
with unquestioned, certain knowledge of acceptance;
someone I love, open-handed, extends his heart,
parchment thin and fragile.

In these moments of intense tenderness,
my spirit staggers between joy and confusion–
if the tenderness is so palpable, so visceral,
can dissolution also be real?

I prefer to live in tenderness.

I shall die, I think, in tenderness.

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.