Elopement Poem by Mary Champion

The time had come!
Tonight she had a pressing engagement -
virtually held prisoner by possessive parents
she had determined to take flight.

Abseiling from her attic room,
she ran through the orchard
and across the stubbled field
to meet him on the bridge.

The sound of carriage wheels
and the vermillion glow of its lantern
flickering through the trees
heralded his arrival.

Across the storm lashed ocean -
freedom awaited the lovers -
a new life in a new world.