I walk a winding path,
Between the growing brambles,
And through their thorny stems,
I see a man singing as he ambles.

**! Good man from yonder trail,
What joyous things set you singing?
I beseech of you my friend,
What has your heart a winging?

Love and love alone sustain me,
For I have found my counterpart.
She sings to me with an angel's voice,
To the tempo of my heart.

She has known me at my strongest,
And pulled me through my hardships.
She walks upon the very wind,
And has rose petals for her lips.

Before her I have wept,
And sweetly she has shared my pain.
She loves to hear my music,
And she dances in the rain.

Surely God has blessed thee,
To know such magnificence.
As we part our wandering ways,
I wish you long levity and sense.

And so I keep on walking,
Between the growing brambles.
I beheld a gray-tailed squirrel,
Chattering as he scrambles.

For a time I pause peacefully,
Taking in the scent of pine.
When behind me I hear thrashing,
And a long beleaguered whine.

I turn to view my old friend,
He is caught within the thorns.
Why have you left your way,
To tread the paths man scorns?

Love and love alone has pained me,
She held me in her soft pale arms,
Those I used to run and seek,
When I couldn't bear life's harms.

We had brought our paths close,
And spoken of our dearest dreams,
When she held me with her gaze,
And showed she is not what she seems.

She spoke to me quite softly,
With danger in her stare.
Why not join our paths together,
So you can feel me close and bare?

I replied with wonder at her quarry,
To do so would require more,
Than our love for one and other,
I've no wish to make child I did implore.

But a child will not come to be,
If I merely take these herbs.
Their potent flavors take effect,
And the plant my fertility curbs.

And so in the rash actions of love,
I joined my path with hers.
But the joining was demented,
And set pain to my heart as spurs.

No sacred joining of two paths,
Can be healthily maintained,
Without intentions of a child,
No matter how the lovers are inflamed.

For when two paths merge,
Another must be formed.
Of the dire consequences,
I wish I had been warned.

The wrongness of our joining,
Left me hollow and pain ridden.
With anger and deep resentment,
I left the path I had been given.

Now I stumble through the woods,
Praying that a God sent thorn,
Will chance upon my exposed flesh,
And then all could my memory morn.

At the conclusion of his tale,
I offer what little comfort I can give.
My dearest friend you have sinned,
But fear not for you can still live.

With life comes a second chance,
Not always the easiest or apparent.
It can be found through forgiveness,
And the strength your friends have lent.

I turn back to my given path,
Knowing rescue is in his power.
I walk the lonely way one does,
When growing older by the hour.