Thursday, August 22, 2019

Long time loving


Autumn it is and, bright in the bushes, berries swell,
the final push of summer’s pregnancy.

The leaves on the trees begin to pack their bags.
Slowly they stiffen, preparing to fly, 
but I stand rooted on the spot, captive in time’s tidal flows.

Layers of memory mingle and mix;
the winters I walked here, the summers and springs,
the many different types of me that wooed these woods
and loved the gentle contours of this land.

I hope you understand that
every type of me was touched by you.

When I flew like a bird, 
you were the tree in which I sang.
When I stumbled in dark caverns of the earth 
Yours was the voice that led me out again.

Unerringly, you sense the good in those around;
unstintingly, you seek to serve.
Your head and heart are full of burdens – not your own;
but burdens that you carry out of love. 

Sometimes, in dreams, I am a young man once again
and single, unattached.
I wake in panic, fearful that a slip of time might mean 
we never met or you, in wisdom, 
chose another man.

I wake and you are always there,
as constant as the trees I love,
as rooted deeply in the earth,
as spreading, lovely, in the light.

Whatever of our brief and fragile life remains
I pray that we will weather well the seasons yet to come
and, find a joy in even winter’s cold 
where crackling fires 
are stacked with logs
and stories told. 



In grateful thanks for our 40th wedding anniversary 
25th August 2019