BECAUSE I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU

BECAUSE I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU

 

Because I have not forgotten you

I can feel your breath in the air

this first gray day of spring

like the wake of a bird that just flew by.

And I smile inwardly to myself

because I have known joy in my life

and know that in time its water

wears away the stone of the hurt.

Because I can still gaze upon your face

in my mind’s eye and see as I saw then

when I was happier than I have ever been

that your beauty did not belong to anyone

I bend down to pull last year’s leaves away

from the violet crocus

that’s trying to French kiss the sun

and I remember how I used to

blow playful strands of hair

off your cheeks

as you lay with your head on the pillow

like a distant star you’d made a wish upon

And even after all these years

I’m still astonished by the tears

that well up in my eyes

when I look into yours

and see all those things

we didn’t know then would never come true.

 

PATRICK WHITE