Autumn...

This is a poem by Garrison Keillor. I've heard it many times and every time I think of all whom I've loved. I think of Vicky. I wanted so much to read it at our wedding but was too cowardly even to suggest it. You might find that hard to believe but I was afraid it might bring other things to mind (as it sometimes does to me) that might not have been appropriate.

But it always brings tears to my eyes.

It was on my mind today. And I thought of Vicky. And I thought of how lovely she was as she walked up the aisle to me and when I was pulling all of the pins out of her hair and on and on.

(Many thanks to Mr. Keillor for this and so much else. And my apologies if I got a word wrong.)

Here on an Autumn night is the sweet orchard smell,
Sitting in a pile of leaves under the starry sky,
Oh what stories we could tell
With this starlight to tell them by.


Autumn night, and you, and paradise,
So lovely and so full of grace,
Above your head, the universe has hung its lights,
And I reach out my hand to touch your face.


I believe in impulse, in all that is green,
Believe in the foolish vision that comes true,
Believe that all that is essential is unseen,
And for this lifetime I believe in you.


All of the lovers and the love they made:
Nothing that was between them was a mistake.
All that we did for love's sake,
Is not wasted and will never fade.