Lainey On The Cam 2 Poem by David McLansky

I spoke too quickly in my haste,
You grieve and mourn at widow’s pace;
I entered wildly at his wake
And sought to win you, a child’s mistake;
Oh wasted sighs and priceless tears,
You stand beside his royal bier,
He opened up your heart to life
And then he took another wife;
And loyal to that dream forsaken
You duly mourn and sit there shaking,
You deck his bier with columbine
And whisper low, “He was not mine; ”
And in your hand, a clutch of rue
To remind your heart, he wasn’t true,
And rosemary lest you forget,
Love only beckons to bring regret;
And you lament without relief,
The proof of love does not bring grief,
Love is proved in proven joy
It sweetly builds, it does not destroy;
But my mere words fall on deaf ears,
You bow your head consumed by fears,
“There’s pansies for remembered thoughts, ”
For all the pleasures that you sought;
I brought you out upon the Cam,
You morn with flowers dropped from your hand,
We drift along the near still border,
Bestrewing daises upon the water,
“There goes my lost innocence,
Why did he leave me, it makes no sense.”
I could put violets in your hair,
But it would only bring despair.