Iva's Song Poem by Chris Zachariou

our first days on earth:

the taste of apples
in the newborn spring,

her verses
—the i's and the you's in love—
hibiscus blossom from her garden

and I,
stirred by such gifts of chastity
I knelt for her

she cried
—no regrets—
then the fury of men


a summer later a fortune teller told me
'one day she will marry a songsmith'

'let it be me', I begged
and crossed her palm with rhyme
but she laughed and told me to my face
'the girl is far too young to marry thee'


now my child has fled to an ancient land

a new kind of love is plundering her youth
astride the passions of her blushing night
and Time —cruel, unrelenting— mocks me
an old fool who loved in haste