I Love You

I Love You

I love you,

Not only for what you are

But for what I am

When I am with you

I love you,

Not only for what

You have made of yourself

But for what you are making of me

I love you

For the part of me that you bring out;

I love you for putting your hand

Into my heaped-up heart

And passing over

All the foolish, weak things

That you can’t helped dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out into the light

All the beautiful belongings

That no one else had looked

Quite far enough to find

I love you because you

Are helping me to make

Of the lumber of my life

Not a tavern, but a temple

Out of works, of my everyday

Not a reproach, but a song

I love you

Because you have done

More than any creed could have done

To make me good

And more than any fate could have done

To make me happy

You have done it,

Without a touch, without a word

Without a sign

You have done it

By being yourself

Perhaps that is what being a friend means

After all.