• As all tales of love begin,
    I clearly remember ours
    In that garden by the lake
    Where lay the timeless blossoms
    Of old passions finally spoken
    And of hopes at last bestowed.
    There rested the secret key
    That freed all words dearly kept
    And all sentiments well hidden.
    For indeed, there nestled a spell
    Cast by the whisper of flowers
    And the black silence of night
    That makes one truly know
    For whom beats his tender heart.

    I still vividly recall
    The gentle slope of your form
    And how you were so keenly
    Embraced by the light of stars
    As though those little planets
    Believed you among their own.
    You stood by the flowers,
    With a rose on your hair
    O, how you shamed the poor buds
    As they shrank in your presence.
    You laughed and chided me
    Saying, “Why have you become
    So withdrawn? Do you not wish
    To share this peace with me?”

    You smiled at me,
    And I knew I was defeated
    My heart no longer could stand
    To be turned away and unheard.
    Year after year it had waited
    That night, it shan’t be denied.
    I took a step towards you,
    And before my boldness fled,
    Or the swell of my heart waned,
    I held your hand in mine
    And let loose the language,
    That tongue of heart and soul,
    Which brings life and sets fire
    To the three words “I love you.”

    Spent and quite frightened, I stood
    Waiting if you could respond
    In kind to a love-struck fool.
    Yet you merely stared at me,
    With disbelief or horror,
    I could not very well tell.
    O, the fear that gripped my heart
    As all but silence was then heard
    Until, you laughed, grinned,
    Took my head in your hands
    And as in my constant dreams,
    You said, “At last, you have spoken!
    There is no more I could want;
    Finally, you are mine.”

    That was how we ended
    As mere friends and turned lovers new
    And though time has rendered you
    Of shriveled hands and dull eyes
    Of listless rhymes and dry songs
    I will always still see
    The same woman in that night
    In the garden by the lake
    Where lay the timeless blossoms
    Of our passions finally spoken
    And our hopes at last bestowed.
    There I found the precious strength
    That led to all that’s dear to me
    For there our tale of love began.