a winged heart

2026-04-12


Nesta, happy birthday.

Attribution

Love has no other desire but to fulfil
itself.
     But if you love and must needs have
desires, let these be your desires:
     To melt and be like a running brook
that sings its melody to the night.
     To know the pain of too much tenderness.
     To be wounded by your own under-
standing of love;
     And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
     To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
     To rest at the noon hour and meditate
love’s ecstasy;
     To return home at eventide with grati-
tude;
     And then to sleep with a prayer for the
beloved in your heart and a song of praise
upon your lips.

— from On Love by Kahlil Gibran

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