You and I have so much love
That it burns like a fire,
In which we bake a lump of clay
Moulded into a figure of you
And a figure of me.
Then we take both of them,
And break them into pieces,
And mix the pieces with water,
And mould again a figure of you,
And a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt,
In death we will share one bed.

Text: Married Love, Kuan Tao-sheng (1263-1319)
Image: Unknown, late 19th c., via Varones/Flickr

Tagged: Kuan Tao-sheng, Married Love, poem, vintage male affection