THE WEEPING WILLOW TREE

 

 

Like the star-crossed lovers,
Romeo and Juliet,
They come from feuding kin
And must hide their love

From those closest to them,
So they meet in secret
Beside the quiet lake
At their secret place

To share a clandestine love

Where the only sounds,
Are of the faintest breeze
Disturbing the lofty tree tops
A gentle lapping of water

Against the bank

And ducks squabbling on the lake
But despite the quiet
They are fearful of discovery
As they embrace hidden from view
Beneath a weeping willow tree,
Its leafy pendulous branches
Trail down into the water
Where, stirred by the gentle breeze
They dip in an out of the water
Like the toes of a reluctant bather.
Despite their fear, the lovers

Kiss in the quiet shade
And feel at once renewed
No words are spoken
Their language is of caress and kiss
Such a tender converse
With limitless vocabulary
And languid pronunciation
Every syllable well employed
And when the final paragraph is reached
They end with perfect punctuation
And bask in its afterglow

Until they must once again stir

From their lovers languor
And sadly tread separate paths
To re-join their warring tribes
Adopting adversarial manners
No knowing looks to be exchanged
No casual brushing past
When for an exquisite moment
A hand might touch a hand
They must remain entrenched
With their warring clans

Until they can once again
Embrace beneath the weeping willow tree

THE OLD RUSTIC STILE

 

The old rustic stile

At the end of the lane

Still stands like a memorial

Marking that special place

Where the fates conspired

That our souls should meet

Though on that day

We purposely trod opposing paths

But met at that rustic spot

And to help you cross

I took hold of your hand,

Small and silken soft

Guiding you safely to my side

Where you stood on terra firma

And despite the presence

Of our companions

We were to all intents

Quite alone as we stood

Hand in hand and in the moment

When hand touched hand

We at once beheld

Our lives from that point on

Would be forever altered

Our future journeys

Would be as fellow travellers

And we were content

With a shared destiny

The old rustic stile

At the end of the lane

Stands like a monument

Marking the place of alteration

A significant place

A spiritual place

A place often revisited

And on such sojourns

We find romantic renewal

As the energizing memory

Of that special moment

Of love at first sight

Assails our senses

Essentially invigorating

Like imbibing the waters

From the fountain of youth

And our hearts once again

Resound with joyousness

Sweet moments of romance

Those excited tingles

Of loves first passion

When hearts beat faster

And desire courses

Through every fibre

The thrill of blossoming love

Adding to the strata

Of our love, laid down

Through all our years together

So by returning to the place

Of loves wondrous inception

We keep our love alive

And in equal measure

Love returns the favour

OH TO FEEL LOVES EXQUISITE ACHE

 

 

Oh to feel loves exquisite ache
To feel that desperate longing
Experiencing that naked want
Of being with them again, and

Feeling so alive in the torment
While craving the next fix
Of that heady foaming brew
Which will satisfy the longing

And quench the thirst of desire.
And when that significant soul
Who holds my captive heart,
Is but a kiss and caress away
I am dragged from sorrows
Unfathomable despairing depths
And bitter anguish evaporates
Like dew under the morning sun
Until euphoria fills every pore
And in that perfect ecstasy
That blissful state of love
I remain until I am once again

Alone with my desperate longing

FORGOTTEN?

 

 

I had forgotten her
I had forgotten
The way she looked
With her bright elfin face
And brown soulful eyes
I had forgotten
The sound of her voice
With its sweet honeyed tones
And her infectious laughter
It had been hard
But I had forgotten her

I had forgotten
The smell of her hair
The taste of her lips
The touch of her skin
I had forgotten her completely
She was off my radar
My senses were free of her
Free of her intoxication
Free of her narcotic
It had taken months
Going cold turkey
To cleanse myself, to detox
To shake her from my consciousness
And exorcise her from my soul
But I had forgotten her

I had forgotten her
By changing jobs
Decorating the house
And ridding myself of everything

That reminded me of her
And I was free
My life was once more on an even keel
The stormy seas had been quelled
All was calm and safe
And there was such comfort

In feeling safe
The wounds had healed
Though the scars remained
I had peace of mind
When I could say

I had forgotten her

And I had forgotten her
Until that fateful day
When I found it
Down the side of the sofa
A small pearl button
Such an innocuous item
Evoking such potent memories
Of a violet lamb’s wool sweater
That accentuated her breasts so well
The button was a casualty

Of an intimate encounter
Discarded in our passionate haste
And in that instance of recognition
She was all at once back with me
My senses reawakened
Her scent was in my nostrils
I could feel her lips on mine
Her caress on my cheek
I could hear her infectious laughter
And I saw her sitting beside me
Close enough to touch
And as the wounds reopened
I realised to my dismay that

I had not forgotten her

I had not forgotten her
I had just shut down
Disabled my interface with the world
I hid away in my castle

And pulled up the draw bridge
And created my own world within
I held the button in my fingers
As the drawbridge lowered

And my castle walls fell
And the world flooded in
That little pearl button
Spoke to me in volumes
And I knew I loved her still

BUTTERFLY SUMMER

 

I remember well, when we were young

And all those long halcyon days

We spent so many joyful hours

Just idling our time away

Down on her dad’s farm.

They were such happy lazy days

Swinging on that old rustic gate

Fishing in the mill pond,

Pooh sticks on the stream

And roaming the countryside

With nothing particular to do

And a world of time to do it in.

They were truly wonderful days

Pleasure filled days, innocent days,

Before the end of childhood

But that was before those amazing weeks

Of that one very special summer,

So many summers ago now,

When she transformed before my eyes,

A little more each day, into something new

Like a butterfly, emerging from its cocoon

Spreading its glorious wings in the sun

Displaying a previously unseen beauty.

A wonderful transformation

When she magically changed

From the cutely naive country girl,

An awkward and ungainly tomboy,

Into an altogether more graceful being

A beautiful young woman,

Though I was fond of the grubby faced girl

With the unruly hair, wispy and uncombed

But fondness paled and I very soon fell in love

With the beautiful butterfly that had replace her

And with the emergence of the butterfly girl

Possessed of all the wondrous beauty

Of the first flower of spring

We trod an unfamiliar path

And left our childish games behind

Taking our first tentative steps towards love,

A love that was a stranger to us, an alien thing

Yet we stepped eagerly into its turbulent sea

And immersed ourselves in its waters

We knew at once that excitement of first love

When joy was all we could see

And all of our thoughts were only for each other

Sweet moments spent in blissful adoration

Until love was burnt deeply on our souls.

Now when we walk the familiar places

Of our distant youth, as we so often do

We can stand in that very spot

Where first I beheld the butterfly

Resplendent in the sunlight

And say to her with heartfelt sincerity

That I love her still

THOSE JOYFUL DAYS

Gone now is that joyful day
When we stood before God
Humble in his blessed presence
And we were joined as one
When everything lay ahead of us

 

Gone are those joyful days
Full of love and laughter
Days of tender moments
And heady nights of passion
When everything lay ahead of us

 

Gone are those joyful days
When we walked along the shore line
Happy, carefree and in love,

As we walked hand in hand
And everything lay ahead of us

 

Gone are those joyful days
When God blessed our union
And delivered perfect joy into our lives
As our little family grew
And we had everything we desired

 

Gone are those joyful days
When your smile lit up my life
And my heart overflowed with love for you
Before it was broken in two
And everything was taken from me

 

Gone are the joyful days
Since you have gone ahead of me
Now God has you by his side
And I will miss you until that day
When God has reunited us

 

I look forward to that joyful day
When we stand once more together
But though my heart is broken
I must delay our reunion
Our sweet children need me
And I must love them double now

BEFORE LOVE DIED

 

We walked together in the spring
When our love was a fresh new thing
The cherry trees were in blossom
And we thought life was awesome
Our hearts were so full we sighed
But that was before love died

 

In the summer we walked together
In the fine and sunny weather
Through fields of golden corn
When we parted we were forlorn
And felt a burning passion deep inside
But that was before love died

 

In the autumn we walked abroad
And our hearts were of one accord
We wandered thought the golden gown
And nothing could ever get us down
We felt as one when side by side
But that was before love died

 

When winters chill fell upon the land
We still walked together hand in hand
We played in the snow like children
Making snow angels again and again
I even asked her to be my bride
But that was before love died

 

We had walked hand in hand
As a life together we planned
We sat beneath a leafy oak
As of everlasting love we spoke
And we loved, laughed and cried
But that was before love died

 

Now I walk alone in the familiar places
Where we enjoyed our fond embraces
Where we kissed and spoke of tomorrow
Places that now bring me only sorrow
Her love made me feel alive inside
But that was before love died