I Can Not Own What Is Not Mine Poem by James McLain

I cannot own what is not mine,
The stars that gleam, the waves that sing;
They pass me by like fleeting time,
A whisper in the air unseen.

I cannot claim the blush of dawn,
Nor bind the rose within my hand;
They bloom, they fade, and then are gone,
Spent seed that's lost upon the ground.

The world is full of borrowed grace,
Of things that linger, then take flight;
I hold them softly in my hand,
And let her vanish into the night.