Waited for you by the gate
To heaven,
Under the aging sugar maple
Old and wrapped around herself,
With knots from years
Of growth and rebirth.
Waited for you.
Fire in the bowl
Fire in the heart
As the cold night crept in.
Souls can wait forever
But the body is only here
For so long.
The apple blossoms, the lilacs
Demonstrate that beautiful things
Can wilt and the petals drop
Like snow that turns brown
With death and blows away with
The slightest gust;
But if given time and patience
They bloom again with more
Beauty and fragrance than before.
And the bed under blossoms and stars,
The fire in the bowl
The fire in the heart
Still wait beyond the gate
For your return.
S. Marie Martin 