Love Poem: What Can I Do
Abdul Malik Avatar
Written by: Abdul Malik

What Can I Do

I never flew
with a flock of birds,
I cannot fly like a bird;
Never did I fly.

I never smelled sweet
like the flowering bough,
I cannot smell like the flower;
Never did I smell sweet.

I never loved
a woman whom
I did not chance to meet,
I cannot love the woman;
Never did I love.

I never sang
the song I did not
chance to write,
I cannot sing the song;
Never did I sing.

I never saw
into the heart of hearts,
I cannot see the heart;
Never did I see.

I never knew
the Unknown whom
I did not chance to know,
I cannot know the Unknown;
Never did I know.

What then can I do?
Only that which I cannot do!

But then really...
Will I ever come to fly,
Or love a woman whom
I did not chance to meet,
And give voice to a song
I never shall compose,
Or have a true
heart-to-heart communion
when I cannot sneak a peek into the heart?

And truly,
Will I ever come to revere
Someone I never shall know?


~"The Poet's Ache" contest by Greg Barden.