Evensong

             An Elegy

 Let us go together, you and I,
Before the ending of the day,
Where lately-blossomed apple trees,
In crumpled-velvet evening light,
With loud hosannas fill the air.
Let us walk, where we have walked before,
Along redemption’s well-trod lane,
To enter at the open gate,
Where we may kneel and lift our hearts
To join the swelling evensong.

The fowler cast his net, and you were caught,
Soon to be lifted up, in pain, alone.
I will miss your face, your voice, your walk,
And I will weep for years when you are gone.

I will make the journey on my own,
In summer, lest my heart should break,
In winter, when I hear your voice
Beside me at our meeting-place,
And not regret the fallen snow.
I will wait until the time shall come
When I will see your face again
And meet you at the eastern gate,
Where we will lift our hearts once more
And join again in evensong.

     - For Larry Tindle, 1996