Gone are the sounds of the passing landaus <br />the barn cats the cypress allée gently swaying at noon <br />the open French windows the gossamer branches the sky never more blue <br />So too the dog days with even the faintest of flickers <br />the fillies making their way to the barn as twilight descended <br />those clear and mild evenings <br />the drawing-room filled with the chatter of friends <br />the quick bedtime embrace the kiss on the forehead <br />a field of tall grass caught by a breeze in seclusion <br />those nights alone in the kitchen <br />those long-ago rides into autumn.<br /><br />Gerard Malanga<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/alphonse-de-lamartine-returns-to-the-family-house-after-more-than-two-decades/
