Socrates

I am bound;

Because I believe so strongly

That all we really possess

Is the present tense

And all the principles - 

Each noble truth

That We discover in this Condition -

I am bound, therefore,

Despite every thinking Man's word

Every spiritual Man's feeling

Despite every apathetic Man's indifference;

Lo! I am bound

With such Profound conviction

To drink this Hemlock!

I love you forever

Fully

And without condition

And I am bound by that

Even if you tell me to stand down

My love is never angry

Never ashamed

And it is as real as the Present Tense

So I am bound

Irrevocably so

To drink

To die

To feel

To know

That my love was impervious

To any of my former trappings

That my love was perfected

By its own death

By the bitter taste

The room temperature cold

The runny, floral accents

Of the Hemlock.