gone

how did you lose in love this time?

when you felt your soul intertwined

I did not think this would happen to you 

                                        my friend asks me these things under a decaying ash tree

                                        remembering when all I could speak of

                                        was the village you lived in

                                        which was the whole world to me

did your love go off to war and perish?

or succumb to a terrible illness,

in your arms

crying in pain

or simply drowned beneath the waves?

imprisoned for the very irreverence

that you found beautiful 

or made to suffer by some jealous and monstrous rival?

                                        all these things and more,

                                        how do I tell my friend?

                                        it was not neglect of lover's duty

                                        or fire of hatred brewing

                                        but the cruel indifference of the world

                                        that took my love away

                                        and stamped out a tale of hope

                                        before it could be written