Time will always tell...

There's a breeze whispering
Through the tree
Above us
As I sit
Upon the quilt
Once pieced
By my grandmother, with
Your head pillowed
On my lap.
I lazily sift my fingers
Through your hair
As you nap,
Musing as I do so
About the way
The course of my life
Can unexpectedly change
With but a whisper.
How long has it been
Since we shared
A sandbox in
Kindergarten?
How long since
Those hot summer days
When we put bat to ball
And ball to glove?
And how long ago
Since we stood
Back to back
On the school yard,
Taking all comers
Who dared to threaten
One of us?
I was a tomboy
To the core,
Just another one
Of the boys,
And you were
My boon companion;
Until sometime along
The way,
About the time
Your voice began
To change,
Your vision of me also
Began to change.
You gentled,
Becoming uncharacteristically
Solicitous,
And I thought you'd
Gone nuts.
It took me
A while longer
To follow you
Into the beginnings
Of something altogether
Different between us,
But was it really?
Or was it merely
A blossoming
Of what had been there
All along?
But then
Before we could
Fully understand
Any of it,
I moved away
And years passed;
Yet I never
Forgot you,
Never realized that
I looked for you
In every man
I met.
Then had come the day
When family business
Brought me back,
And suddenly
There you were,
Knocking
At my grandparents' door,
Looking for your old
Boon companion.
Once again we stand
Together,
Grown ups now,
Exploring the love
We'd harbored since
Childhood,
That deeply held
Devotion
That has
Brought us here
Beneath this tree,
With your head nestled
Upon my lap,
And your ring
Upon my hand.

c. 2020
Image by Наталья Карташова from Pixabay