Archilochos Poem by Justin Houseman

Heart of hearts and life of lives,
Flowing through the trees and sky,
You who leave me under hanging knives,
With knots unknotted and the unlied lie,

I keep you close, closer than love.
Writers write and dancers dance,
Freeing the spirit like a fledgling dove;
I’ll pay you everything in advance.

Give me liberty. Spare me pain.
Embrace novelty; bind it with a chain.
You are what you are, real and in art,
The wonder keeping stars apart.