Running Through Barley

PhotoCredit: LGS

As I followed after you into the fields of barley,
My heart beat with the force of youth within my breast.
The future glimmered, a distant mirage, a blur to me.
But that I flew on wings of love, mattered more than the rest

The summer sun beat down on us with warmth and assurance
The breeze blew steadily and swayed the stalks heavy and bowed
And as we passed, we would feel the barley beat upon us
Like gentle caresses, or sweet applause, or kisses stolen and proud

You moved as if Life itself choreographed your dance
The sway of your hips, the fall of your feet, the sound of your laugh
And I was caught up in the music, the spell of romance,
Every sense alive, every smell, every sound as bright as the sky above.

The barley parted before us as we ran and as we pranced
It surrounded us and supported us and it hid us
I followed overjoyed, my head spinning and my heart entranced
It seemed all nature joined to celebrate and cheer us.

But for the shortest moment, my eyes strayed, I turned too late.
Suddenly you were gone and only the silent field stretched before me,
I looked all around and called out but you had left without a trace,
Even our path behind was covered and I stood alone in the barley.

Again and again, I asked what might I have done differently,
That my highest joy would not have been so short lived a flame
I was still slumped in the field when the rains found me
The barley kept me company, heavy, burdened, silent and ashamed.