The Command

Poemata, VI

"Love, and do what thou wilt"
a phrase so anodyne
With it what could possibly be built--
that it could be worth our time?
It seems, indeed, a command
which would with force of demand
By authority force our hand;

What true authority
would bid it not be obeyed
Or did you not fully see
The game which was being played?
For if a man were to hear
and obey the words that appear
No thing from him would we fear;

Why indeed should I do
The thing that I will at all
From since the time that I knew
What I want causes me to fall?
But to follow this word
Authority must then be heard
Both comical and absurd;

Love, and do what thou wilt
So sit, and dare not move
Does a twitch of the head or a tilt
Ere this power behoove?
This then is no power at all
So what is the name which we call
The will of man in the fall?

What shall we say of his love?
Another form of desire
We shall not be speaking of
What following this will transpire;
Can we say that blood won't be spilt
Tearing down all that was built?
Yes, love, and do what thou wilt.