A REFUGE FOR POETS WHO WRITE IN THE LYRIC TRADITION,
WITH RHYME AND METER, WITH OR WITHOUT MUSIC
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ONCE I HAD A TRUE LOVE
Once I had a true love, but I never told her so.
My tongue could never praise and never flatter.
Perhaps I thought she’s never leave, thought she’d never go,
But now I know she’s the only thing that matters.
It was evening in midwinter when her path I chanced upon,
When her shining eyes commanded my attention.
We spent the night in candlelight and talked until the dawn;
With the rising sun we felt our love’s ascension.
She was only fifteen years and I was younger too,
And we gave each other’s lives direction;
But it’s changing in conflicting ways, as lovers often do,
That undermines the deepest of affections.
It was late in autumn season before the winter snow,
And a trip across the land I was plannin’
And she pleaded with me: “Baby, now won’t you let me go?
Don’t you want a traveling companion?”
I looked into her eyes and saw the sparkle there no more;
I knew she’d changed, and I didn’t want to chance her.
But I couldn’t find the honesty to tell her yes or no,
So I turned away and I never gave an answer.
Once I had a true love, but I never told her so.
My tongue could never praise and never flatter.
Perhaps I thought she’s never leave, thought she’d never go,
But now I know she’s the only thing that matters.
Schenectady, New York, 1972
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