I Want to Die While You Love Me

I want to die while you love me,
  While yet you hold me fair,
While laughter lies upon my lips
  And lights are in my hair.

I want to die while you love me,
  And bear to that still bed,
Your kisses turbulent, unspent
  To warm me when I’m dead.

I want to die while you love me
  Oh, who would care to live
Till love has nothing more to ask
  And nothing more to give?

I want to die while you love me
  And never, never see
The glory of this perfect day
  Grow dim or cease to be!

Published in The Book of American Negro Poetry

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