the fog bound path

Was it a dream? A vision? Even days after, I can no longer be sure... but for my precious Mandy and her gallant Gareth, my heart still beats with paternal love.

Last night I walked the fog bound path

and in the shades of deepening gray

I glimpsed a form among the ruins

And would have passed, and gone my way

But something bade me watch, and stay.

And so I watched this phantom sight

as all among the stones it moved;

around it shone a soft, pale light

As it sought for something  deeply loved!

but was this shade from Heaven above-

Or had it risen from some place

beneath this world, some cavern dark

cast up now to this shadowed space

to walk the earth yet leave no mark

of passing through the ruins, stark

and solitary on its quest?

 Even then I thought - perhaps I knew -

it was no strange ethereal guest.

Pale moonlight silhouetted  you!

Gliding over the evening dew.

Not mournfully, it seemed to me

Nor sorrowing for something lost,

But gathering up, within your arms

the wisdom from the paths you'd crossed;

the tears and laughter, all the cost

of life, as you had tasted life

across the years, the nights and days,

and joy, to outweigh all the strife;

A half-smile on your upturned face,

You vanished into moonlit haze!

I stood alone, within the mists

And wondered – was it all a dream ?

And  from the darkness came the hiss

Of water, trickling down a stream,

All else, silence-  what could it mean?

Some message from a spirit  world ?

Or from some faery-haunted wood?

Across the path I quickly whirled

And saw faint letters where you’d stood.

They spelled this  message – “All is good”

The moon returned, a gentle breeze

Began to lift the fog and mist,

The soft wind  sighed among the trees,

The stream now sparkled.  Starlight kissed

The message I had nearly missed.

As I turned homeward, Eastern light

Began to creep across the sky;

Had I been transfixed all the night?

Where did those passing hours fly?

And as I stood and wondered why

The wind grew strong  amidst the ruins

Between the stones, the leaves were tossed

Your message altered!  Lines like runes

Lay where your steps had earlier crossed.

The message now read, “Nought  is lost”

Along the road, the fog rolled in

As if it would once more begin

I wandered by the ruins again.