I know, you will not recognize me

For it was ages ago

That for a day we said good-bye, and

For a lifetime each other lost;

/

I wear my age upon my face now

And hunch under the weight of time,

But you are just as I recall:

As beautiful as spring in prime;

/

My dreams like autumn leaves have fallen

Upon cold ground for all to tread,

While yours, it seems to me, have blossomed

Like flowers in a fresh bouquet;

/

How you have lived I want to ask you

As in my hand I hold your hand,

And at this moment – turn back time, and

Stay by your side, which I once abandoned;

/

Then, today would we walk together,

Laughing at our private jokes?

Would my world, you, be small but happy?

Would I for you be a good home?

/

In vain I wonder, for my choices

I made a lifetime ago,

When for a day I said good-bye, and

Lost my beacon in an array of storms;

/

They left me crazy and disfigured,

They tore my flesh and broke my heart;

I cannot even recognize me

When, swiftly as they come, the hurricanes are gone;

/

You walk on by, and I’ll keep walking –

Must be, into another storm;

I wish you love, and light, and joy, and

In the lifetime to come

/

I wish to ask you how you lived and

In my hand yours again to hold