as you help me slip

behind the rusted

chain link fence,

i can see just

how overgrown

and choked with weeds

the garden has become.

how many years

since we used to sneak

in here together?

i can’t remember….

stumbling over the

rocky path,

instinctively we reach out

to one another,

we allow our hands

to touch for but a moment,

regaining our balance

we continue on.

the colorful beds of flowers

are all but gone.

the beautiful statues are now

covered with wild thorny vines.

looking around

my heart sinks to sadness.

is it all this un-kept

and overgrown?

i don’t remember why

we stopped coming here

or how we could

have forgotten this special place

for so many days,

for far too long.

as we look around,

searching through the

over growth of weeds,

my eyes begin

to sting with tears.

normally, i am not one to

give in to feelings of regret,

“what’s done is done,”

but here beneath the sunset sky ,

standing close to you,

like this,

i realize that so much of

everything i once held close

in my heart is gone.

i feel the pain of remorse

growing

from the pit of my gut,

spreading all the way

through my chest and heart.

there is a lump of hurt

in my throat,

that i don’t even dare to stop.

feeling like i have lost everything,

i grab your hand in mine,

a flood of nostalgic memories

comes forth, I can’t help the weeping.

glancing at your silhouette,

you turn and look at me,

the curve of your face and that

way that you used to smile,

i remember how i loved you so.

all of our thoughts

and ideas we sketched

in the stars with our hands

as we dreamt about our future plans.

this is the place i used

to pour my

heart out to you,

and after listening tenderly,

you would gently gather it up

and pour it back again.

squeezing my hand,

i know it is time to go.

as we cross through

the rusted fence

i know we will

never have our

‘garden of eden’ again.