I hesitated entering the grove,
Her patience flagging. Finally, I gave,
Determined I would share with her my trove,
And for myself alone no portion save...
A thicket it appeared, forbidding all,
But long ago I'd come across a trail
That wended through the forest dense and tall;
We took it. As reward for our travail,
We came out on an empty grassy glen,
And lingered till the dusk in quietude,
Except one hour to tell her, "Now and then
I come here to escape, and have been rude
To keep it for myself." Beneath that dome
Of sky and endless heavens, breathlessly,
She sighed: "One day, here let us build our home,
And none shall live as blissfully as we."
The spark of youth has left us both by now,
As we two parted; but I oft return
In search of peace away from life's harsh rows.
Yet following the trail, what prize I earn --
I see her whispering there, to younger beaus,
In breathy voice, my words from way back when;
Where she had sighed at mine, they blush at those;
And I depart, to seek a quieter glen.
July 27, 2007, long in coming. | 
