seed of immortality

dark earth waits, dark grass
with trees and airs, the sound
of birds and the gentle, passing
clouds

I sit, watching the place of
white stone where you stood,
happy, and marvelled at
the moment - I remember

my frequent arm about your
shoulders, my fragile frame,
a fleeting touch you have
long left behind

did your seed grow?  is there
a tall, beautiful, slender
tree rising in heaven
from one small hope -
I see it not but
know it there

and this old man, slowly
turned in his polished
cypruswood, goes to that
echoing white vault,
stone walls, unnatural
light

and I miss you tonight - the
sun shines but I am empty,
blighted, my turned
blinds angled against
the day

so far away, and unattainable -
the crimson robes billowing
and a book with words, open, silent,
people with flags flying, standing,
mouths closed

a small stone church
and orange flowers an affront -
I imagine the cold damp
green, April wind keen
and shearing off the
loch

and I long for your
fingers, your laugh,
lost here in the city
where all my heart
falls on stony ground

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