I Love You, but I'm Not in Love with You

Music: Clarinet Concerto in A: Adagio.
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Performed by Jason Weinberger and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra
at the Free Music Archive under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

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Nicholas Gordon

I love you, but I'm not in love with you.
I want your friendship minus your desire.
I would not lead you falsely or betray you.
I feel the tenderness, but not the fire.
I have no reason for my lack of yearning,
No explanation for what I don't feel,
No other love to whom I might be turning,
No anguish to suggest this isn't real.
Passion is a horse that knows no master,
And I cannot with fences make it stay.
It must run free towards daylight or disaster,
Awake to glory in no other way.
So I must say what you don't want to hear,
Though I still hold you and our friendship dear.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.

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