The trees once bore witness
To our youthful smiles:
Hand in warm hand,
Under leaf-shielded sun.

The trees held our vows
Between hornbeam walls:
Fervent, unblessed
In the wind-stirred nave

The trees heard him cough,
Then falter, then fade:
Hand in frail hand,
The cedars a shroud.

Once again, I am called
To the evergreen tower and
Loving tears flow
In the cathedral of trees.