The Clearing

I think of you. I think of our hours of love

That we spent, so sweetly, in the wooded depths..

On damp leaves, past earnest firs,

Beech, brown mushrooms on hardly trodden

Paths, we came to a clearing.

The sky opened, suddenly bright, above us.

You exclaimed, "How beautiful that is"! The sun shone softly,

Caught dark trees within its gold

And the bright green of raspberry bushes

From which we plucked ripe fruit

That, laughing, we held to the other's lips.

Then we sank in raptures upon soft moss.

Your head leaning, gently, upon my shoulder,

You held my hand. The old fir trees rustled

Solemnly. And, from out of the thicket,

Stepped a deer… that stayed a long while listening.

Then, we looked more deeply into our eyes

That had the clear blue of heaven.

We spoke of nothing, hardly thinking,

Aware of only the eternity of the moment

And of the nearness of our souls.