Magnolia: Sweet Tradition
Married under a lavish evergreen canopy,
aromatic blooms filled the evening air.
Grand was our cathedral of open sky.
Newlyweds kissed
on the twenty forth of May (your grandparents' anniversary).
Lying above us on an old lower limb:
initials side by side, theirs and ours,
artistically carved by him and you, many years apart.
Sweet bridal bouquet of magnolias you cut.
When as your grandfather's tradition to your grandmother,
each twenty forth of May, she and I received a bouquet.
Even after his death you carried on for both of us, then to her grave.
That tree bloomed two lifetimes of bouquets, both bitter and sweet.
Then we parted.... Went our separate ways.
Reality sometimes overshadows romanticism,
although true love never dies.
Deep in our hearts the magnolia still blooms.
I missed you as much as you missed me, those eleven years,
till one day the sun stepped up on my porch.
I knew when I looked in your eyes and felt your embrace,
On the twenty forth of may, I'll receive a bouquet.
Never again will we part.
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