Your indulgent smile, mixed with my tears
Makes me feel like a child burdened with years
You tease my emotions; you ease all my pain
And when you comfort me gently, you put me to shame.
Not a word of impatience; not a moment’s indifference;
Not a stroke of rejection, and that makes all the difference.
For I never want the shadow of tolerance, with its cold rationality
To displace your warm patience, and its light conviviality.