An Eagle and a Dove

Lord, who is this
delightful creature
you have placed in front of me?
An ounce of pepper,
a pound of fire,
tender affection just for me...
Please, I beg you, teach me how
to love her the way she needs --
with an open hand,
an unpossessing heart.
Help me germinate the seed.

She is not to be captured,
a trophy or a prize,
no conquest from a distant shore.
She, like me,
is an eagle and a dove
whose only limit is the sky
that she must soar.

Please remind me
not to bind her,
for if I love her,
untethered she must go.
And if I encourage the sky,
for a time she may fly,
but I know she'll be back
forevermore.