We started when autumn leaves stuck to the ground,
And rambled; bantered all around.
When morning dew smeared the vehicle’s glass;
Onlookers admired our repartee ’til trip passed.
Off to a park on a sky clear day,
You made your intentions known along the way;
My heart emerged to blast the bitter wind
And so I knew our union would begin.
Every day collected as a new secret shared;
If the unhidden had scarred, we didn’t care;
For laughter, thoughts and dreams we discovered,
Without seeing realities not yet uncovered.
Important moments, holidays, suddenly arose,
Though I wasn’t invited to share in any of those;
I excused the overlook as the newness of love,
Until the frosty cold forced me to peer beneath my gloves.
What I found were the same working hands,
That tried to remold; then you stopped and took a stand;
Stuck you have been in years of hardened ways,
Rebuffing my present efforts to settle and stay.
For your life has never truly belonged to me;
You made that clear from day three;
That love has eluded you, its constancy, too,
Still your heart wants to begin with me anew.
So out with long-standing, tired ways,
We strive to forgive, to mend broken days;
Packed baggage we open and hope to toss;
Happy memories saved, unhappy lost.
For pain hasn’t resurfaced with the fallen rain;
No, I’ve been there before and probably will again;
Decades I’ve traveled: body tired, not spirit;
Naysayers may dither but I won’t hear it!
Wendy Shreve
