THE IMPECCABLE LOVER
by Earth Empress
Oh, Gentle man, what do you see when you look out at me with eyes of desire
and longing? Eyes that reach out and surround me with your heat and passion:
passion of wanting. Eyes that say, “I must have you.” Eyes that plead, or
eyes that lust. Eyes that say, “I’ve been lonely so long.” Oh Gentle Man, do
not look to me with these eyes. Go to the looking glass with these eyes.
Relief awaits you there. And when you see the conqueror, the knight, the
hungry man, tell that one to lay down his sword, surrender his armor and
shield: Tell him the war is done. Then put your arm around his shoulder and
look him in the eyes. And when his sword, his armor, his shield are locked
and put away, and he has cried and called you, “Brother,” then, Gentle Man,
may you come to me with your soul’s light shining through from behind your
eyes, able to see the Light and Essence that I am. Then I will look back
when I see the love and respect in your eyes. But when I see desperation and
lust, or the need to conquer and own, I promise you this: I shall look away.
Oh, Gentle Man, how would you give your gifts to me? Excitedly, like a child
who picks a flower for his Mother then runs inside to receive the praise?
Would you give to me to show how thoughtful and kind you are? How generous
you can be? To impress me with your charm? To win my love and reward? Would
you give what you think I want with the hope for pardon and mercy, that you
be deemed worthy of all my attention and love? Oh, Gentle Man, please take
your gifts to your magical child, who awaits, so lonely and afraid, in your
garden. For he is in need of your caring and presence. Take this child to
your breast. Cradle him. Stroke him. Shower him. And be sincere. Alas, when
he sleeps in your arms, lay him down softly and climb the stairs to my room.
and if you see the Light of my soul and the Beauty that I Am and wish to
honor me with a flower, a poem, a sweet word, or a kiss, then give to me
with sincerity, without the need for flourish, without expectation or the
hope of reward, but with the quiet dignity with which you sniff the aroma of
a sweet-scented flower, or watch in peaceful awe the setting of the Sun.
Oh, Gentle Man. please burden me not with the weight of your esteem, or with
the power to give or destroy your joy, your heart, your image, and worth.
For this responsibility is far too great for me. Go find your peace and
happiness, your self-esteem and love. Find them with God and Goddess; Find
them in flowers, and trees, in the wind and the setting sun. Then bring them
with you for sharing. Do not make me your reason for living or dying- my
approval, the source of your power; my touch, your salvation; my eyes, your
self-knowing- for I would grow to despise you, and you recent and loathe me.
This power that you would give me I truly do not want. At best, it could
only serve to soothe the doubts I hold, and make me feel important to you,
and needed and worthy- filled with a false sense of purpose- but fleetingly.
And you would imprison me away from my own sense of Essence, and from the
truth of my soul, and from the Goddess that I Am, and from my true power and
Light. You would cripple me, surely- admiring me with your eyes that hide
your loneliness and need; your gifts that beg for approval; your words of
praise that hide your desperation.
Oh, Gentle Man, until the child sleeps and is peaceful in your garden, and
the knight has lain down his sword, his armor, his shield, then, only then,
approach my stairs. and only then will I meet you halfway. When your soul is
present and shining brightly through eyes of love, then you will see my eyes
shining and looking back at you. When you give from your heart and your
words are not boasting, when you know who you are without me, then I will be
free to receive you, and to give to you fully my love. For then, we will
know that neither of us can be destroyed. The surrender that only can come
to two who have first surrendered to self- to their own inner Beauty, and
wisdom, and Essence Divine- will be ours. Then side by side, in blended
Light, our twin stars will shine once again.
