…of my heart

There, where violets exhale
their perfumed breath to the wind
and roses with their blushing velvet faces
ever fade too early
footsteps fall and for one brief moment
I forget that I have been so long without you
there, where my heart is still warm
and my soul is on fire
where from all directions the winds
bring petals of cherry
and carry with them
the fragile creature of hope
there I find myself
gently recalling those long years
when you were the songs
the hymns of my heart
before, with your hand on my cheek you sighed
and spoke of the time
when we must both be like
the distant shores in the fog and the wind
hidden behind veils upon veils
there, with the ghosts of years far past
history runs through me
like the hopeless tides
that weather away stone
© Ann Bagnall
2013