In the absence of your love
rigid fortune given its due
for now we lack the mettle
to slip the prow
into the citrus night
the vessel no longer sure
of its destination
and plagued with weakness
as time would have it

I recall a time
when the bedpost rang
and fresh were the garlands
in the morning spirit
and lifting with the dew
we would walk the bay
'til the light
played out
and the evening
would have us
no more

Yet let us not swallow defeat
my love
tied as it always will be
as a shadow
turn the ash
turn until
the stem is fresh
reaching upward
ready to embrace
new summer song