OF YOU, IN MEMORY

Of you, in memory, I dream

summer days that did not end -

the coo of doves at daybreak,

blue sky over your shoulder,

your dark eyes looking down; a smile,

my heart open wide with wonder.

My summer of love

had arrived.

Of you, in memory, I sing

the song of a distant heart

that dared not open,

from whom I unwillingly

but inevitably had to part.

ploughing the garden under,

along with all my hopes

Of you, in memory, I recall

the coo of doves at daybreak,

how you opened

the door of the cage

and out she (we) flew.

No answer is an answer

to the questions of the heart

Of you, in memory, I sing

every time I hear

the dove’s soft coo.

we ploughed the garden under,

along with all my hopes

Of you, in memory, I wonder,

sifting through all

I have come to know today:

what would have happened

had I been brave enough

and whole enough

to stay?

But no answer was your answer

to the questions of my heart

and so unwillingly but inevitably,

the time came for us to part.

My attempt at a fugue. A fugue, like the fugue in music, repeats a refrain or a theme throughout the poem.

Only one year, and one summer of love this lifetime. Too short. But fourteen years of love with Pup more than made up for it.

for Mary's prompt at What's Going On? - Memory