Avowal
by G.A. Compton
(my great, great uncle)
When I am old and broken like a reed,
And sunsets spill no more the ruby wine
That bacchanal the birds - too spent to heed
The genesis of spring in sod and vine:
When silver tongues of maple trees are mute
To this, almost, insensate shell of me,
And April breathes upon a broken lute,
And silence fills the old affinity -
Then, as I leaf the page on fading page
Of intermittent memory, I'll live-
Despite this bold and truculent pillage-
As fully, having all that life can give-
And I vow, I swear, it shall be ever new-
My love, the old, old love, I bring to you.
That poem is so beautiful, it brings tears to my eyes. What a thoughtful soul my great uncle Barry was!
ReplyDeleteI really love that his vow to continue to live fully and to still be "new" is an expression of the "old, old love."
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