A thousand days could go by

And the warmth of you would still intrude

On some thought of mine, though you may be distant

Scattered to the winds of time, or brought there by yourself

I cannot look you in the eye, but I am far from rude.

I will not pretend you didn’t leave

Some aching, misapprehended part of me

In the place where memory lifts its mournful toast

To days when we could lay rightful claim to be

A most remarkable coupling, in the scheme of things.

It is no crime to curse the fickle winds

That whirled you up away from me

Life, after all, is but a tornado of surprises

That wreak havoc even on a fateful love

And those who worship in its name.

A thousand years could descend

On this earthly coil, or on the moon

And still, some ancestor of yours or mine

Will speak our story around some light

To regale both young and old alike

With love, as once it was, when stripped

Of all accoutrements and rules

Starched regulations wrought by fools

Who believed the dance more important than the music

That brought it all to life

We shall be legend, even if our lips should never touch

Again, and though it doesn’t seem so much

We know it was, and in that light it will endure

As epic in the oft-told tales of love,

And so it shall be, evermore

12/06/2002

Posted on 12/06/2002
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch