'Devotion Is Much Deeper Than Desire' Poem by Charles Jenkins

Devotion is much deeper than desire.
It has a certain steadiness. Its flame
Burns with a constant, all-consuming fire.

Passion is quickly spent. The flesh can tire.
The animal within us soon grows tame.
Devotion is much deeper than desire.

The heart's a hardened husk upon a pyre
Until the furnace frees it from its frame,
Burning with constant, all-consuming fire.

Youth's lust and lustre fade. Let something higher,
The warmth of human comfort be our aim.
Devotion is much deeper than desire.

Such are the tender thoughts that you inspire
I weaken at the speaking of your name
And burn with constant, all-consuming fire.

And so I throw myself into the gyre,
A moth for your beguiling light to claim
Since my devotion, deeper than desire
Burns with a constant, all-consuming fire.