Twenty Five 03.09.10

If you asked me right now, to release the hounds and to chase you down like a wild fox, I would do it. I would ride until my lungs ached and my horse died of exhaustion, falling in slow motion to the ground the picture of grace undone. As it's great muscled form seized and white crescents spider webbed with red veins shone through on the edges of its large ebony eyes, I would carry on knowing that the great beast fell as a homage on the heels of a noble chase for the truest love. I would sprint after you and outlast the whimpering baying hounds as they tucked tail and fled to warm soft beds. I would outlast all the other hunters in their woolen red coats, velveteen black caps and flashy golden buttons. I am no normal sport hunter my love, I will not give up this chase for the comfort of a warm bed and the sting of a stiff drink by the lodge's fireside. I am in this for the glory of your esteem. I do not chase you for the simple fleeting thrill the others do, nor do I chase you to possess you as a trophy.

My coat is a deep coal black, stained a bold wet red only over my left breast by my heart's blood. It is my badge of courage, the rusty iron smell spooking the horses of lesser foes so they might know, I cut myself to prove this flow will never cease, it will never ebb. My hat is a midnight derby bearing stars and wishes for only your heart. The buttons I wear sparkle brilliantly, but do not be fooled, all that glitters is not gold my love. No, the mettle of these buttons, of these clasps and fasteners is made of my tenacious undying love for you. It glows; watch how it shines so brilliantly, as if to reflect the light in your eyes. If you asked me, I would search for you, always pursue you, and it would be my sincerest pleasure. I would chase you as if my very life depended on it if that is what you wished of me. If you asked me to, I would spend the last breath I had reaching out as I tore after you watching your curls dance in the wind in front of me.

I would course over endless hills, scale the steepest canyon walls, and sail the immeasurable oceans of this world or any other to be at your side again. If you would ask me to take flight and fly to your side, to prove my love for you is everlasting, I would come straightaway with the blinding speed of a thousand racing Swifts. My wings would cut the wind in a whistle that uttered your name, echoing it to the far reaches of space and kissing every twinkling star it passed with light. Name the sport, and I will conquer it. Decide the quest and hand me no map, just mark an "X" over your heart. I vow, I will find my way to your side through toil, trouble, and tribulations that would make any other man or woman turn back defeated. My conviction is strong and the bounty is well worth the thousand deaths I will weather and resurrect myself from to reach you. I would drown for you again and again, finding no solace in the watery grave of Davy Jones’s locker. Each time I would fight back the arms of the Kraken until it surrendered to me. I would stubbornly butcher the nine heads from the Hydra until none grew back to replace them. I would brazenly steal the mighty Poseidon's trident and plunge it deep and sure into the hearts of every sweetly singing siren and rip their wings to ribbons. I promise you, after all of this I will reach your distant shores, and when I do I will uncover all the treasures laid there and secret them away to my pirate cove never to be sullied by pain or split tears again. I will overcome this adversity of time and distance to see your smile once more, to possess that holy light in your kiss, to know paradise when I slept in your arms again.

If you were to ask me for anything, anything you wanted most of all, I would give it to you without question or hesitation. Name your price for there is none too steep, I have plenty of blood, sweat and tears to pay with. Ask what you will of me, tell me no lies, and spare me no truths. I am unafraid of your honesty; I welcome it with an open heart. Here, witness as I spread these cracked ribs open and retrieve my plum colored heart for you. Observe how it beats solely for you. It is calling your name with the sweet songs of mournful ragged voices. It is sending you warmth and a love so epic that it only touches two souls once in a lifetime. You may run if you must, you may fly far away, but if you will me to I will follow whither you go. I will chase you love, if that is what you desire most. Because surely my precious heart, you are so very worthy of the chase.

Here, come, let me show you how in days of old your face would have launched more than a thousand ships. Would I have but one ship in my fleet, I would launch it on a 100 year quest to return home to your kingdom if it could mean I would receive a hero's welcome. I would invade and usurp the borders of any realm immediate or remote that dared to lay claim to you, to lock you away from all that you desire. I would spill the blood of countless legions of faithful soldiers to return you to your throne. No Trojan horses could hold enough warriors that would ever amount to the same pertinacious unyielding love that I bear for you. There is not a God above that could banish me from you, that could extirpate this ardor I feel for you from my breast by way of proffers or pleading. There is not a Titan of old that I would not face and defeat for your trust. There is no demon you can imagine so terrible as to drive me back from your sight.

Cast me into the brutal unforgiving fairy tales of old and the lands of the epic poets such as Dante and Homer. I will strive through each adventure and redeem myself for you. I would wander sightless in a forest of a thousand tears that dripped like acid upon my naked skin to love you once more. I would slay dragon after dragon and battle any black hearted sorceresses that try to bar me from you. I would supplant myself firm footed in the face of ogres, or giants, or fields of wicked evil men. I would wrestle the beast. I would cut off its head with my vorpal sword and bring it back to you proudly, just to show you there is no task you can name that will cause me to surrender. I will tempt the anger the Gods above in defiant resplendent wonder displaying all the fervor I bear for you. I would descend to the darkest pits of hell and claw my way back out of it with no eloquent poet for my guide. I ask for no Virgil to lead me calmly through these terrors for I need only the comfort you provide. I will make the journey on my own, with only my love for you as my compass, just to find the Summerland in the coil of your grasp.

This is the stuff of legends. I would bargain with Charon, the ferry man at the river Acheron, spilling thousands of silver coins at his feet. I will tame the mighty Cerberus, all three fearsome hell hound heads bowing to me in total loyal submission. I will cross all the rivers of the underworld and dip myself in the river Styx to become invincible so that I might plead with the lord Hades to allow me to bring you back to the sunshine's warm embrace. Seated coolly at his dark throne I would sing him songs so dulcet and filled with yearning for you that they would put Orpheus to shame making him look like a tone deaf novice. Hades the dark lord of the dead, the most altruistic of the Gods, would yield and grant me mercy his heart brimming over when he saw how much I loved and longed for you. He would let me take you far away from the glowing cold green flames of this loveless land of shadow and death. And unlike Orpheus, I would not betray you and look back, I would walk ahead knowing that doubt has no place in my heart. That you will be mine in starlight and daylight since I have made the journey and know the test will be passed.

This is the quintessence that sinners turn martyr for and makes them scream Hallelujah as they burn at the stake. I would waste in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights like Jesus being tempted by the devil and I would turn him away each time victorious. I would fast in the wilderness to have the lessons you would teach me rein down like the Holy Spirit and help me find my way back to you. I would carry the cross, stumbling but always rising again turning away anyone that asked to help me bear this burden. I would keep walking to my certain doom if it meant that I might witness your smile again. I would crucify myself, driving the nails into my own palms, splintering them through my own feet. I would hang for hours slowly suffocating under my own wilting weight and thrust my tender flesh upon the spear and wolf down the vinegar others would offer like wine to my parched lips when I cried out on thirst just to save us from my sins. But unlike Jesus, I would never renounce you; I would never ask you why you have forsaken me. I would only sacrifice myself to show that I would rise again as I have promised and return. And you could place your skeptical finger tips into my wounds to know they were real. I would walk on water carrying you to my tomb so that you could see this was not a trick that I truly had risen and returned to you the way I said I would.

Ask what you wish of me my love, there is everything here in my ribs that I am willing to give you to prove the fortitude of my passion, my regard, and my most revered respect for your heart. Call on the wild wind; beckon me to the chase with the piercing call of falcons on the wing. I will heed this summons and I will persist in the charge doggedly, never wavering until I at last have your lips pressed to mine once more. If you doubt me, if you doubt all the words I have laid here, I challenge you start to the race. Let me show you how I have honed my tracking skills to perfection and steeled myself with the temperance of this most ardent and veracious love. Say but the word my kindred heart and I will seek you out and show you I will attend to you with most humble veneration henceforth.

I doff my nebula ridden derby to you and bow deep with reverence to your grace. I wait, ever at the ready for your invocation. Whisper my name aloud for me to hear it, and marvel at how soon I appear steadfast at your side.