I have been greeted by long absent friends <br />and loved the starting pleasure in their eyes; <br />have known the silence as the singer ends, <br />holding the listeners dumb with ecstasies; <br />have filled my nostrils from the opening rose, <br />have shouted verse, exulting down the wind, <br />have gazed at moonlit water as it flows, <br />and morning mountains with the sun behind; <br />have felt the blessed ease that follows pain, <br />and heard great tides of music as they sweep; <br />have found lost infant memories again, <br />seen Heaven-visiting children fast asleep. <br />I summon up these joys, each one apart- <br />and I have held my love against my heart.<br /><br />Richard Elwes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-have-been-greeted-by-long-absent-friends/
