The Lime Tree

Under the lime tree

The scent is a sweet perfume

A friend holding my arm

Smiling

Whispering memories in my ear

& I remember a time when

Younger knees

Could run through all the trees

 

Through the apple orchard

Long grass wrapping wet fingers

Around our ankles

Slipping on the windfalls

Turning to wasp cider where they lie

Through the orange orchards

Dry red dust washed from our bare feet

By the chirping cicada of the sprinklers

 

My path, now slow

Winds through the mown avenues

Of old trees saving up for autumn

And the streams & rivers

Are quiet ponds of silver

Where fish dream under waterlilies

And memories, like the clouds above

Are reflections in still water

 

The lime tree sheds no tears

At all the years passing downstream

But fills the air with giddy scent

So I can glide my eyes across the water

And tenderly remember

A time once spent

Running through

Summer orchards