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Jun 2016
You said that October
In the tall dry grass by the orchard
When you chose to be free,
"Again someday, maybe ten years."

After college I saw you
One time.
You were strange,
And I was obsessed with a plan.

Now ten years and more have
Gone by;  I've always known
where you were -
I might have gone back to you
Hoping to win your love back.

You still are single.

I didn't
I thought I must make it alone.
I
have done that.  

Only in dream, like this dawn,
Does the grave, awed intensity
Of our young love
Return to my mind, to my flesh.

We had what the others
All crave and seek for.
We left it at nineteen.

I feel ancient, as though I had
Lived many lives.

And may never now know
If am a fool
Or have done what my karma demands.
Gary Snyder was a major influence for me back in the 70s. This poem of his was the perfect lament (for me) of a broken love affair in my teens. Saw him do a reading in Eugene, OR in the 70s. Loved it. Still love his work.
Jeff Stier
Written by
Jeff Stier  Western Oregon
(Western Oregon)   
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