I wrote many poems
I wrote many songs
I even wrote of a life
Before I had even met you
Before I knew even of your existence

I wrote an entire book
This great adventure
Of love lost and gained
Of life gained and lost
This great journey of beautiful proportions

Then I met you
I saw your face, a familiar one
And I heard your voice, a calming one
Like I had seen you before
And I felt safe

In the eyes of someone I hadn't known
I saw beauty I had only before imagined
And as time wore on,
I saw your heart
I saw your beautiful soul

Then the rains came
The cold winter winds came
Blowing apart what we had built
But it was built on crooked foundations
And so it fell, as we allowed

And just like in the ruins of a city
A place once filled with hope
A place once filled with happiness
A place of celebration
The ruins became a lament

And for months lied those ruins
Drowned by flooding rains
Pounded by fierce winds
Covered by paralyzing snow
Then the spring arrived

With spring came the sun
And came the flowers of the fields
Came the singing of the birds of the trees
Came the gentle flowing of cold creeks
Came the beauty of new life

So too with the ruins of our city
When it became safe to do so
We rebuilt our walls
We reconstructed our towers
We resurrected our city

From the crumbling ruins of our once-great city
May come a city with more beauty than before
A city which could only come after the pain of winter
For if there had been no winter
The city in crooked foundations would stand, waiting to fall

So too with her
Had what seemed to have been good not ended
This new city could not be built
And an unstable city would remain
Waiting for a calm rain

But for now, we rebuild our city
Trying to restore its former glory
Where we want to make our home
This beautiful city-to-be
Rising from the rubble

We hope to rebuild
We hope to resurrect
We hope to restore
We hope to review
We hope not to redo
We hope for all to be good
In this beautiful new city-to-be