Fulfilment

He remembered us in our low estate
                      His love endures forever.
            (Psalm 136:23)

The esteem of love which esteems greatly,
           sacrifices all for the receipt of nothing,
            and gives self when Self is not
                        found within oneself;

the worth of love which bestows worth,
            values highly what is lowly valued,
            remembers what is passing, faint
                        and lost in low estate:

sing, celebrate, imitate this love,
            which loves where love is not,
            which lifts what sinks in swamp and mire;
                        and loves what it transforms.

Yet love which loves with double-tongue
            and loves that it may be esteemed,
            esteeming only when it’s loved
                        and gives to be returned,

which values what gives value back
            remembers only what clings to the mind,
            which sinks unless by others raised,
                        and affirms the fishing soul:

love is not love which alters when
            it alteration finds, nor is
            it love when with a hidden hand
                        it clutches and gives up.

Indebted to eternity, already aeons lost in space,
            beholden to a love too vast
            for any mind or hand to grasp,
                        love as you have been loved.

The law fulfilled, the highest good
            held out to you upon a tree,
            seek first the kingdom and receive
                        a love which gives as love.