It will take a little courage
to finish this book
that I do not want to end.
I ration the pages
as on certain nights
I ration love,
but passion draws us on.
This life too—
my woods, my work,
to see the garden through
to the stripped harvest.
I can’t even imagine
my last look at the sea.
But we must see
the story to its end;
our passion draws us on.
We lust for the finish.
It takes courage to live,
they tell me, which is true,
though some of it comes
down to the courage not to.