THE BEAUTY OF YOUR HAIR
by Michael Langston

The beauty of your hair
Surpasses the beauty
Of all else in nature
As the most glorious feature
Of God’s most glorious creation:

More beautiful than the clouds,
More beautiful than the sky,
More beautiful than the sunset,
More beautiful than the rainbow,
More beautiful than the stars,

More beautiful than anything!

Merely to touch but one silken strand
Would be to receive a newness of life
As a trickle of water…
To someone dying of thirst
On the sun-stricken sand.

I long to bury my hands in your hair
Till all my fingers disappear
In it there,

And all my sorrow,
And all my grief,
And all my loneliness,
And all my heartache,
And all my longing,

Till at last they are gone:

Gone!

Lost in the tresses
Of your long, streaming hair.