Time Alone Knows

From my archives August 11 2016
TIME ALONE KNOWS
Standing on the verge of precipice,the girl in white, the man in black,
she, lost in dreams, he in angst.
Her thoughts were flowing with the beloved river,
 thoughts of spring, togetherness of summer,
snow white like the dress she wore, virginal, pure and coyly sweet.
He in his black suit, formidable,dark,
deceptively strong, arms folded across his chest,
guarding against the absurdity
of the war that attacked on every front,
the battles they fought in the smaller world
of the diurnal rounds of anxiety.
A boat sailed across the quiet river
like a papercraft of her dreams.
He like a being from another world was thinking of the day he had to plan
before the war called him to battle.
And the year was 1919, when imperial forces ruled the day.
Time alone knows what happened to them

With the tide the logs
severed from the tree
come and swim with the waves,
briefly touch and move away.
Another tide another wave,
a lifetime lived and set away.

Image credit Sall

Nils Dardel (Swedish, 1888-1943) Young Man in Black, Girl in White, 1919