THE BELVEDERE
You and I with fifty valentines and
February’s sun pale on the glass!
We count the camellia’s crimson blooms –
and remember, last summer, our grandchild
shivering with ecstasy the day
she chased her daddy with the garden hose.
From here, the house seems sentient, our
remembrancer – the lawns and borders and
parts of neighbours’ houses an urban landscape.
In this wooden hexagon – a half-glazed
gazebo, its blind back turned to a high
Victorian wall festooned with ivy
and clematis – voices are naturally
intimate and revealing, privacy
in an open space. Is it remarkable
we have been friends and lovers so long?
Chance, choice, serendipity or willpower?
We opt for all four. Behind us, in shade
for most of a winter’s day, accidental
primroses are blooming.
John Chapman
February 28, 2012With burgeoning undertones of enforced downsizing as in the Russian and French revolutions and the temptation to accept the material difference, we cannot contemplate leaving our family history behind in this, our similar abode: every nook delivers memories so rich and so beautiful.
Pat Rogerson
March 11, 2012Beautiful, moving and so true.
Adriene
January 26, 2013Seasoned, mature love has never sounded so romantic. Beautifully done, David.
Ashen Venema
February 20, 2013… the house seems sentient, our remembrancer … Wonderful, this evocation of place, like another partner in the loving relationships.
I found your site via Third Sunday Blog Carnival
Howard Gardener
February 14, 2014Chance, choice, serendipity or willpower?
You forgot ‘cheesecake’ . . .
Marvellous images throughout.
David Selzer
February 15, 2014…’cheesecake’ as in ‘images portraying women in a manner which emphasizes idealized or stereotypical sexual attractiveness’?
Caroline Reeves
February 15, 2014Such wondrous, flowing sentiment in those words, David. You brought a tear to my eye.
Howard Gardener
February 15, 2014If the cap fits, David . . .