As The Loveliest Diamond Poem by Maurice Harris

Thou art, as the loveliest diamond:
The hardest 'substance' known to man-
To forget-even if I were prime, and
Accepted such, I do not know if I can.
Should I possess 1,000 lifetimes to do so,
And all manner of distraction along the way,
I would ne'er hope for this ardor to go-
And should it-I would surely rue the day
That this resplendent glory would have past,
From mine sight and be known by me, no more.

This, my beloved, is the hold thou hast
Upon me, and thou art all I ever could have hoped for-
Until that day when a 'flaw' was found:
One that you wished away, lest you have to face it.
Perhaps, this was not presented to confound,
But rather, as the most effective way to erase it,
Both as a source of fear and as an impediment
To what otherwise was amorous 'perfection';
Perhaps, its presentation was not yet meant
To be-and it was in need of further maturation.

I am reminded of sentiment that you ceded to me-
Which spoke of what you believed you needed to be
Before you could allow for this couplet-
Ironically, the diamond bespeaks of it:
The one factor that sets it apart from all else.
This 'imperfection' is one that only you may propulse-
With the reward, all that it now keeps away!
Once gone, all form of trepidation sweeps away,
Almost as though it were never even there;
Of course, why would you even dare
Take one step closer to this 'perfection',
Unless what awaits you is worth this self-insurrection-
Toward a part of you, with which you wish to part! ?
You must surely beg this anguish to part,
So that you may find the inner-contentment
That dwells within you-this will take commitment,
Both to yourself and to the gift that awaits you-
Both to what you could be, and what that creates, too!

-Maurice Harris,23 July 2012