Erotica/Love Given and Denied

by Arthur Clark Kennedy

Love Given and Denied

A Love, that one would give his soul to win
And an hereafter heaven,
Denied unto his life's devotion
Is lightly given
Unto a false emotion.
A few low words, soft hand-clasps, shaded eyes
Of passing thoughtful carelessness, the prize
Falls from its place into "what might have been."