had I known the way
to know you then –
or knew myself
much more –
than petals almost crushed
beneath my will

as lanterns burned
beyond the wick
destinies unfolding –
beyond the letting on
are holding still

of sacrifice
uncertain
was a time
you came to me
dreaming –
still just dreaming
of today

fragile tales
of how we were –
and where the trees
were young –
how many lives
remembered me
that way

on wishing
there was one dark night
we slept beneath the cedars
and woke
before the starlings
took to air

caught within
their flutter
was a moment
of divine –
moonlight mourned our leaving
stars were in my hair

canopy of evergreen
tapestry of truth –
for where the forest bends
and words concede

shadows shift
against the still
as memories return
–  echoes fill the night
with falling leaves

. . .