the end of you

I don't want to be
the end of you
the wreck of you
the rocks upon which
you are crashed, and sundered,
spoiled, and bled. I did not cast my nets
to tangle your fins and gills, you
sea-monster, you
creature of depths
and reach,

I'd as soon have said - Lord! I wish
that I'd stayed on the beach,
or had not looked down - that I'd missed my chance
to glimpse what I can't comprehend, what I now
love best

- that you'd only passed under,
undreamt, unguessed,

So that I could just once more catch
my breath

I cannot
see the end of you even yet

and I never want to. I cannot
forget,

I never wanted to
be the end of you