Anniversary

Anniversary of First Meeting

The years pass, but I still keep count,
And while I age, you remain the same;
The frailties of life you now surmount:
I still hold out for you a blazing flame;
What would you make of that, my dear?
Would you tell me to move on, away
From memories can't be quite as clear?
Or would you tell me that I must slay
The dragons of despair, consuming fire
That still beset me when I see your face,
Now lost, gone, burnt up in funeral pyre;
All that remains: pictures of your grace,
Your fine long hair blowing in the wind,
And your sweet smile, and girlish laugh;
A past still there, that nothing can rescind,
But nothing can bring back, no magic staff,
And I fear that in time, memories may fade,
As I grow old, as past recedes, falls away;
Would that I could meet in enchanted glade!
But it is not so, and frailty brings a dismay;
Time cannot weary you, my dear, my love,
And my vigil of remembrance, I still keep:
What will be, what is yet undreamed of,
Perhaps will come, unbidden, in my sleep.