Let Me Tell You a Story
I remember like it was yesterday
but it was years ago and another lifetime ago
that I fell in love with a man
it was a love that could never grow
could never be
I was working for the Government of Canada
for Health and Welfare
and was sent way up north as part of a group
to see the conditions in isolated villages and towns
we were given wilderness guides
because it was not like you could just take a car
to get there
one was called Claude he spoke the language
of the Inuit and was our translator
this was his life and he seemed to love the snow wilderness
I spoke a lot with him
and overtime we became friends and of course
I was falling in love and he loved me too
we set sail on an ocean of snow white love
one night he invited me to his cabin in the woods
I lost myself in a place of a thousand trees
and in front of a blazing fire we found paradise
my hair a flowing dark river streaming
his voice music for my soul
we knew that our love was doomed
there was no promise between us
for I would be leaving for the civilization soon
back to the city life that I loved
I could never see myself in this isolated place
and I knew he did not belong in a city
so we enjoyed our nights as star-crossed lovers
dreading the end but knowing it was soon
and the drums of time rolled
we both decided that our love would end when I left
there would be no long distance romance
no letters and no communication ever
we would become shadows on the wall of time
I would never see him again
when that day came it was so hard
I left by a small aircraft it was not like there was an airport
looking out the window
my eyes swelled with tears
he waved goodbye to me and turned away
as clouds sailed across the snowy sky
and that is the last time I saw him
love is a guest that comes unbidden at times
yet, I find a sweetness amid the dregs of the past
where memories of him shake the ocean of my sleep
and I know that I will never forget him, never
for I keep him in a secret place within my heart
he will always be that young northern wilderness guide
with the beautiful voice and smile
even when I am withered old
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