Emily Vance Brown

by Tove Ditlevsen

I love you because your spirit flickers
like a candle left by a window.
I love you because when I think you’re mine,
the flame blows out, and it isn’t so.
I love you because you don’t carry on
about wedding bells and vows and things,
a love like ours, so fleeting and precious,
should not be bound by any gold rings.
For I will never darn your tattered socks
or see you trudge about with a frown,
and you will never find me tired and glum,
wasting away in an old nightgown.
No, let us meet in the very late hours,
and dance, dance, while others are asleep.
Let’s ask no questions, make no promises
—for promises are not made to keep.
You will only see me wrapped in bright silks,
forever aglow with mirth untold.
That way, when the time comes to reminisce,
you’ll have a fine picture to behold.