The Absent Presence
© 2004 by Ellin Anderson

This was the fruit of candor,
Of love that spoke to love;
But blushes speak of slander,
And, like fuchsia on a dove,
My petals faded with the light —
The common, mourning grey
That carries sunset into night
And takes it worlds away.

Where two live joined in marriage,
I saw that rosy glow
In bloom upon a scentless quince:
Lovely, but all for show.
Oh, harbor wind and valley wind,
Conspire with the tree
To free those paper petals, and
Return my pink to me.

© 2004 by Ellin Anderson. All rights reserved. No part of  this work may be copied or used in any way without written 
permission from the author.