Pause Between The Lines Poem by Linda Marie Van Tassell

Gold and glad as the newborn sun,
I rose with such splendor
and gave such gifts: my heart, my soul –
all that made me tender.
With sweet smiles and wiles, he pursued,
at least professed to be;
and I was drowned in waves of love
that rose inside of me.

The dawn was tinted pirouettes.
My heart was wooed and won.
He captured all the tender parts.
My love had come undone;
and in the wood, beneath the tree,
he called me ‘starry-eyed, ’
and plucked my petals one by one.
The weeping willow cried.

The moon lifts up her offering.
She haunts my string of pearls.
I weep in waves that none can see
for broken-hearted girls.
Each pearl a tear, a memory
of what has come to pass.
Each dream a ghost, a venery,
a shadow on the grass.

Reflected in deep pools of thought,
I wish that you were near.
I speak the language of the heart
that few have come to hear.
In my hand, my heart, my flower –
my gift of love to you.
I weep in waves of innocence
whose love is always true.


You shadow every step I take.
Your love, it lived and died.
You are the pause between the lines
and I the unclaimed bride.
The silence drifts in muffs of snow.
My bloom is swept away;
and the whole earth is winter now.
The sun has doused its ray.

My lashes sweep the waning light.
A gleam is in my eyes;
and ever more, I see your face
in these Virginia skies.
A sentimental fool, perhaps.
I always feel you near.
The winding road runs out of sight.
I wipe away a tear.