What right have I?
You are not mine
Nor will you ever be
I need not try
To read your sign
You don't belong to me
I should not care
How you behave
What difference does it make?
Perhaps someday
You will grow brave
And from this sleep awake
But when you do
It will not then
Be caused by what I say
But by one who,
Like other men,
Holds you within her sway
And as I claim
No place within
The life you choose to live
I'll stay the same
As I have been
And all your faults forgive
Perhaps I own
The privileged place
For worry I need not
I may condone,
Reprove with grace,
And still remain unfraught
With jealousies
And petty cares
And all that love demands
So as you please
I'll save my prayers
And better use my hands
But why all this?
As I have said,
It matters not to me
What right have I?
You are not mine
Nor will you ever be
