Forgotten Ground Regained

Slowly she stepped back, brokeHis arms' encirclement, raised both wristsTo hold her hair back from her face.'Alas, my lord, my tale is not full told;Nor have I named my folly fullyYet:-- I dare to dream again, you see, ---- And now my heart is set --On thee.'
'How can I help myself, silenceMy heart? How then deny what nowPulls me apart? Pity me, pardon me,Call me half-crazed: dazed or a dreamer,I plead no defense!'-- Either fate made me love you, ---- Or lack of sense!' --
'I have sense though to see your courage to care!For where would I be now if grief and despairWere as strong in your soul as they seem in your words?How can I help that my heartstrings are stirredLike a harp in your hand, like the wind of your voice?How can I stand-- What a heart strung with steel ---- could hardly withstand?' –
Copyright © Paul D Deane, 1997. First published on the Elendor MUSH "Imladris Poetry Page". Excerpt reprinted in Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, New Series, Issue 4, Fall, 2024