In a foreign tongue
He spoke of you,
Explained your culture,
Extolled your virtue.
Yet as the tourist,
As the only stranger,
I knew you best--
From my own garden-- but
Could not recall your name.

Such change in memory
Seems a part of age;
But Youth, Beauty,
And you Intelligentia,
Remember:
The great gift of age
Is that honest Knowing
That transcends well
Beyond, only a name.

08/05/2006

Author's Note: On a visit to the Netherlands Limburgse open air museum "Het Einderhof."

Posted on 08/05/2006
Copyright © 2024 Leonard M Hawkes