The Great First Lines

I want to live in the great first lines,

I want to feel the power rush through me,

Go on, compare me to a summer's day,

Drink to me only with thine eyes,

I don't mind.

I want to bury myself in the great first lines,

I want to walk in beauty, like the night.

How do you love me? Go on, count the ways,

Come live with me and be my love,

I don't mind.

I want the great first lines written across my body,

I want my name wrote upon the sand,

I too, should like to rise and go,

For although the night is darkening round me,

I don't mind.

So many wondrous, great first lines,

which shall be mine?

Will I be caught in seasons of mist,

and mellow fruitlessness?

If so, I won't mind.

Will I be painted with a slash of blue,

or a sweep of grey?

Will I find my own scarlet patches along the way?

If so, I won't mind.

For I will have lived in the great first lines,

borrowed, maybe, but still all mine,

for I will breathe life into each note and line,

Until the stars burn out from ever gentle passing time.