What Can I Do? Poem by Roy William Gotaas

You offer to change my life, to make it a thing worth having:
What can I do but whisper hoarsely “Please, yes... oh please.”

You say you’ll never grow tired of me and us and leave:
What can I do but try to have faith in that promise?

You say you’ll give me everything and I wonder:
What can I offer in return?

I want to keep you safe, unhurt and whole;
To take your past pain and suffer it for you;
To raise winds that let you fly however, wherever you need to go;
To feed your body and spirit and keep the chill from both of them;

I want to clear whatever path you choose to walk;
To level the bumps, with my flesh if that’s what it takes;
To make endless untrammelled days for you,
To see you smile on waking to each one.

I want to live or die for you, whichever does the job;
To let you be fine and shining and glorious
To do what you came to earth for, loving and healing:
To me Madonna mia, Adrianna.



But at the bottom of the page, what’s all that worth
And how does it translate from day-to-day?
I can cook for you and chop the wood,
Do what any servant does: it isn’t much at that,
Compared with what you offer me.
So despair creeps in to sap my hope of you.


Then you talk to me and I begin to realise
That when for your completion you have need to give,
I can be the one who understands the nature of the gift,
Appreciates it truly and never takes for granted.
You fill me with wonder and joy and I see I can offer
To be the vessel for the love you have to spare.