The composition decomposed

the first few sentences
     jotted notes
the pearl of an idea
          the motif
          a seduction
     a letter of introduction to a grand theme
if one believes in those sorts of things

But in all matters of ambition
there is awkwardness and uncertainty
     until there is flight—
my heart flutters
     my voice quivers
          my chest shakes
struggling to keep this nakedness from my face.

In a dream once
I was the boy I once was
     singing high and pure
     a clarion made of man
     a soul uncomplexed and pure—
and this is the voice I would sing to you with—
     not as a boy, but with that purity,
          that unseeing love.

We forget though
that all things are made and are made to decay—
     even tears
should be left out in the rain.
The last few sentences
are reminders
of all we have learned.
The theme finished
     recapitulated as a caress
a few lines more. . .