When she is Gone

by oosh@gmx.net

December 2000 / January 2001


More than the scarlet rose
She left for you that night

More than the little card
That told she loved you so

More than the kiss she scribbled
Below the shopping-list

More even than the turn of the shoulder
In the early light of dawn

When in sweetest frailty
At last she yielded to sleep

Slipping away from you
While still in your embrace

It was that smile
A propos nothing

Those little dimples
That light in the eye

So quickly there
So soon gone

Her brief life was a lesson
And you were born

Never to forget
That half-remembered smile

And Death
The cruel school-mistress

Every day
Every hour

Teaching you
Teaching you
