Inspired by the 11th stanza of 
"That Which Leads Us To Love"
http://kupika.com/diarypage.php?id=z4763718427fbdl3j38d
  




�Promise�

On a breezy day in fall,
A woman of old age sits on a bench alone,
In a house, by a lake

Sitting on the front porch facing the lake,
She watches as the sun rises from the horizon,

Lost in the beauty, depth and majesty 
Of the lake, sky and surroundings,
She forgets about time.

Rippling the surface of the clear lake, 
Waves of wind,
Can be seen coming closer,
Distorting the reflections on the lake

The cool winds graze her skin,
Causing her to shiver

As she walks inside,
She can hear the leaves ruffling from the trees nearby,

In the living room, 
She walks over to the side of the center couch,
To pick up a blanket

Lifting the blanket,
A single photograph falls off,
And glides down to a photo album,
Previously hidden 

She takes the picture in her hand,
And gazes at it in awe

Wantingly, she decides to take the album 
And makes her way back to the bench outside

After sitting back down,
She covers herself with the blanket 
And begins to open the album

Memories of their meeting come to life,
As she remembers,
His shyness on the first date,  
His hesitation on their first kiss,
And his tender touch on their first night together

Carrying on,
She recognizes how time,
Changed them from youthful lovers,
Into adults, parents, and grandparents

By sharing moments of pure joy,
Uncertainty and frustration,
They relied on one thing that they both desired,
Forever frozen in a promise�
 
As the sun begins to set,
The sunlight dims and
She becomes aware of the time.

Closing the album, 
Flashes of images rapidly appear in her eyes
As she reaches for the first photograph 
She gazed upon

Her eyes fill with tears,
Until the drops start to run down her face,
Falling off and hitting the photograph, like drops of rain

Opening her mouth, she softly whimpers,
�You promised me forever��

Putting the photograph back down,
She walks inside and up to her bed,
Falling asleep to dried tears...

In her dreams, she hears a familiar voice,
A voice of the man she loves, as he says
�Forgive me, I�ve left you alone for too long� 
�It�s time that I truly fulfill my promise.�

Confused and unable to physically see him, 
She frantically says, �Where are you, I can�t see you.�
He responds, �Right here, as we promised on our wedding day.�

Looking where her heart would usually be,
She sees a glowing light as it moves in front of her,
Taking the shape of her deceased husband as a youth
Reverting back to her youthful days herself,
She reaches out, embracing him tightly
And says with tears of joy, �I�ve missed you so�
Embracing her back, he smiles before saying,
�Come now it�s time for us to truly to be together till eternity��

Without hesitating she follows him hand in hand,
As if she had longed for the moment to meet him again
Both unknowing what awaits them ahead,
They disappear into the starlit darkness.

The sun rises to a now empty house,
Bringing a gust of wind along
The photograph which still sits by the bench on the front porch,
Is lifted up into the morning air,
And starts spinning and wavering,
As it falls to the ground like a leaf,

The photograph remains face up,
Showing them on their wedding day...