Long ago and far away,

When evening came to call,

I felt almost beside myself,

Most important of them all.

For at my Mama’s grave request,

As dinner time drew near,

I’d put my small voice to the test,

And hope that you would hear.

I’d call you in from fresh plown fields,

You’d wave to say you heard,

But when you came into the house,

You never said a word.

I often wished with all my heart,

That I could know you well.

If you ever wished the same,

I really could not tell.

Every day went on this way,

Throughout eternal years,

Until I gave up hoping,

And shed too many tears.

Then from your old and too frail heart,

At death’s door you turned back,

On your cheek, one single tear,

Made a ragged lonely track.

“I love you.” As I searched your eyes.

What more was there to say?

“I love you too” was all there was,

But what a sad, sad way.

I raged inside the day you died,

But could not shed a tear.

For I had waited overlong,

Too long for me to hear.