Not Heat Flames up and Consumes.

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NOT heat flames up and consumes,
Not sea-waves hurry in and out,
Not the air, delicious and dry, the air of the ripe summer, bears lightly along white
down-balls of
myriads of seeds,
Wafted, sailing gracefully, to drop where they may;
Not these—O none of these, more than the flames of me, consuming, burning for his
love
whom I
love!
O none, more than I, hurrying in and out:
—Does the tide hurry, seeking something, and never give up? O I the same;
O nor down-balls, nor perfumes, nor the high, rain-emitting clouds, are borne through the
open
air,
Any more than my Soul is borne through the open air,
Wafted in all directions, O love, for friendship, for you.

© Walt Whitman