~
my youngest, herself now
married and a mother
asked me when
and how I knew,
an impossible enquiry,
love, that undecipherable entity
a peculiarly complex viral affliction
for which there is no antidote,
I succumbed at only seventeen
and have lived for over
half a century within its tenancy,
perhaps a chance meeting,
a snapshot from a bus window
a photograph in a newspaper
who will ever know?
the ‘when’, was on first sight
a warm enduring ache,
the ‘how’, harder to fathom
remains an enduring enigma
*
© Graham R Sherwood 07/23
grahamrichardsherwood.co.uk 