I have been combing the strands
of my thoughts for you
you
who left traces of your fragrance,
in lieu of yourself
a pungency as of ripe apples
hot tea
or things lain long in lavender
very faint
but of a lingering sweetness.
Now that I have found you
I can see
your delicate coloring
which once so delighted me
has been faded in the wash
of my tumbled mind
and yet do you still
bring the tears to my eyes
as will some small phrase
someone said to me long ago
to whom my desire
to mean so much
still meant so little
I have untangled you
from my web of delicate things
only to find you were the last of a kind
within my yearning soul
shame on me... I did not know.