Acrostic Declaration Poem by Roy William Gotaas

(I promised I wouldn't say I loved her till we were face to face. This acrostic was my cheat on that. Acrostic? Read the first letter of each line down the page.)


I may not speak three words that tell all I feel for you:



Leaving me ball-and-chained in the race for your heart.

Or, if you will, hobbled and limping after you,

Virtually struck dumb by lack of other ways to say it:

Entirely at a loss for an alternative.



Yet, given chance and all that’s fair in love and war,

Our pact may be a little cheated with,

Under the seal of good intention.



Well, I must try it anyway and any way I can,

If sanity’s the thing I’d keep.

There is no other cure or medicine,

Help or remedy for what is bursting in me.



Ah, dear heart, be forgiving?

Lay law aside for now and

Let this poor heart have its say some way?



My Adrianna, who has cured so much in me,

You are the cause of this inflaming thought!



Help me, dearest one, to keep the pact

Every day until its term is ended.

And, if you will, forgive your servant,

Roy, who knows full well how much he

Trespasses upon your loving trust.