This old farm cottage of mine

keeps all my years safe

for it knows my secret ways

and remembers

 

There are shadows in the shadows

but in some rooms

my sons have hidden smiles

to lead me in

 

There is more solitude indoors

but here and there

she has retained a past caress

to warm me

 

The old mirror we found at market

still retains her ghost

which scratches gently to touch

me in the glass

 

There are old noises in the walls

as the stones recall

the quiet love whispered loud

within their compass

 

The ragged patch of garden grass

outside the door

still knows the imprint of her foot

in the summer sun

 

Now it is all a dream:

perhaps you never were

and yet I see you dancing

through the rooms