In December

For Babs Iverson's Ask Me In December Challenge

If you should happen to see me,

Then please turn your heart away.

Please don’t try to remember,

The light on that cold springtime day,

You were not quite yourself,

And I was all that I am,

When we laughed under street lights,

When you un-gloved my hand,

When you asked me that question,

When your hopes turned to dust,

When I grabbed for an answer,

That would guard safe your trust.

“Ask me again in December.”

“But love, its April now.”

“Then don’t ask, not now, not ever,

I’ll make you no promise, no vow.”

Now Christmas lights are gleaming,

The river reflects back their glow,

And I’m thinking of you on this evening,

And the places where we used to go.

I wonder if you could be near me,

In one of these cafes or bars,

Warm in the clamour of people,

Or alone under sparkling stars.

I wonder, if you had just weathered,

One summer, one autumn, one wound,

Would we be here tonight, together?

Would our dreams at last be attuned?

But the lights go out in the cafe’s,

The river slinks back into gloom,

The people disperse into alleys,

And I’m left alone with the moon,

And I hope that if you did see me,

You turned and kept walking away.

Don’t ask me again this December,

For I was not willing to stay.