When I was young, a boy of ten and three <br />I knew of love with naive clarity <br />My love burned bright, but dimmed as each day passed <br />It turned to ash. It burned out naturally. <br /> <br />A child's heart is fickle, underlined <br />With good intentions. Likewise unconfined <br />Were thoughts which said 'You love her not, move on! ' <br />And so I left the ones I loved behind. <br /> <br />Yet when I sat and pondered in disgrace <br />I saw a girl I knew, a pretty face <br />Possessed of subtle-soft regality <br />Her gentle smiles filled up my empty space. <br /> <br />She was my little secret, tucked away <br />Inside my dreams, a magnolia fay <br />Whose presence stoked, not quenched, affection's fire <br />My love only burned brighter every day. <br /> <br />And so began our romances sublime <br />So long ago when love was in its prime <br />Before a Demon tore us both apart <br />But that's a story for another time. <br /> <br />So when the lonely winds of life do blow <br />I think of her, the girl of long ago <br />Who loved me in that year of burning heat. <br />The sweetest year that I will ever know!<br /><br />Thomas Donnelly<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/halcyon-the-sweetest-year/
