LOVE IS AN ANCIENT DISEASE

FAR FROM ANY RIVER

There was a town
Far from any river
A place where
Love came to hide
There was a church
With splendidly colored windows
And trees with roots
A thousand miles wide
There was a shard of glass
That cut you
I placed it in a brass box
Where untouched it lies
Now, many years later
I sit in a room
With no mirrors
Thinking thoughts
Of neither virtue nor vice
I try to remember
That day exactly
The memories fading fast
I think you loved lilies and hated roses
And said:
You never took the same road twice
We smoked
Drank brandy
Spoke of our worries
And sorrows
Then both vanished
And lived out our separate lives
Recently, I think of you more often
And wonder:
Could love happen twice?