My father walked me down the aisle,
But my mother held my arm.
He went with me,
But we went not towards the altar,
But towards the door.

My father walked me down the aisle,
And the ***** rang through the church,
Humming through the elaborate crown molding,
Carved by my ancestors.

He went,
Not beside me,
But before me,
And I watched,
As he was illuminated by the bright,
Overbearing,
Texas sun.

My father walked me down the aisle,
But I did not wear white.
My father walked me in silence,
And I shed tears not for a man standing at the altar,
But for the one I would never see again.

My father walked me down the aisle,
And no veil obscured my face.
All eyes were upon me, but not for my pristine beauty,
Instead for my clenched jaw and furrowed brow,
Severe and fierce to distract from my glassy eyes.

My father did not leave me at the end of our walk to sit beside my mother.
She clung to me for support and sobbed breathlessly,
Loudly,
Unavoidably,
And I carried her with one hand,
My sister the other,
And walked towards my future.
A future family,
Not one person more,
But one person less.
I walked,
One final time,
With him.

My father walked me down the aisle,
And I will never forget it.
Hundreds of eyes isolating my family from the crowd,
Slow and muffled sounds drowning in the deafening beat of my heart,
Blurred faces staring,
Black heels clacking against the cobbled path from the church,
The anguished wails of my mother,
The whimpering of my sister,
And the wooden box that glided before us,
Pulling,
A string tied to our patriarch,
The pin key of our family,
Pulled taut and then snipped with the slam of the hearse doors.

My father walked me down the aisle,
Before I had a chance to grow up.
He walked me,
Out of the church,
Away from the altar,
Never to be walked again.

Before the autumn comes
Before the trees are torn by the harsh winds
And the world is consumed by leafy snow

Before the fires edge and burn out slow
And dark soiled Earth is turned to rust

Before the autumn comes again and then
I will find myself
Once more and last
In the springtime of my youth the pass

For there my fate will not be determined
For all are falling, all are fast

But before the autumn comes again
I will outstretch my strong summer arms
And try and hold the winter back

In the springtime of my youth to pass

You kissed me
With your dazzling gleam
When I craved affection.

Provided solace
When I felt like the only soul that's walking on earth.

Last night I felt an explosion of tears burst through my face,
As I remembered my friend who passed.

I felt alone
Like the last cloud to escape from the night sky.

Remember I asked you if you ever had that feeling?

You illuminated my soul
And allowed me to sit on the edge of your crescent.

When I expressed my explosion of tears to you,
I was reminded of your craters.