Won't you?

I think I have found you

In a place

Between pages,

Memories and sighs,

In a garden,

Overgrown

With ivy, rosehip and rue,

Where the willows

Cry

Over you still.

I think I have pulled you

From the snares

Of oblivion

And lies,

Carefully pruned

By hundreds

Of brutal hands.

You have emerged

From the silence

Of unspoken truths,

The weight

Of uncertainty

On your lips,

Bitter to kiss,

Yet sweet.

Out of the rain

I've called you

And you answered,

Shedding

The coats of fog,

Cold waters

And sleepless nights.

Now you're here.

My golden memory,

Cut short

In the dead of autumn.

My last rose

Of summer,

Plucked

By unforgiving hand.

Did I do you justice?

Did I hear

Your voice

Whispering in the wind?

Was that enough?

Will you stay

Or go now,

As the story unfurls?

I've spent

So many days with you,

So many nights

In thoughts of you.

I might be selfish-

I don't want

To let you go.

Won't you stay,

MJD?