Love

Love
----
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 help
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 the 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.

-Roy Croft