darling, do you remember?

the night i found you there

six feet under woodland moss

you were too bloodied to care

i pulled you from the roots

the trees held you as their own

you folded into my calloused hands

i said “my love, we’re going home”

carrying you from the forest

a trail of blood swam on our tail

the pellets beat down on your skin

first signs of a reckoning hail

the years came and went

but you never said a word

still, i gained hope

every time you stirred

one day a spirit called

came knocking on our door

she took one look at you and said

“oh, it’s a shame to be so poor”

for i couldn’t afford to mend you

with any spell from a merchant’s tent

so i sat and listened to your breathing

without a penny spent

but the spirit she was kind

offered to heal you for free

placed a kiss upon your forehead

and willed you to come to me

your eyes fluttered open

two pale butterflies

mine closed from the weight

of the heaviest of cries

you placed your hand on my cheek

said “thank you, my dear”

i thought we’d be happy now but

your future’s “oh so clear”

for you had to return to the bog

the same one from which i’d saved you

because is it really saving when

you don’t have all the clues?

because your home was the forest

i mistakenly thought it was me

but there’s not love lost, darling

i lowered you under your tree

one last look and you were gone

but i didn’t waste those years

because when i turn around i see

the spirit there to

catch my tears.