Sycamore And Vine

by Joan Terry

My true love vowed to wait for me at Sycamore and Vine

He gave his heart and soul to me and I, too, gave him mine.

The long awaited day had come, I dressed with eager haste,

for precious were the moments and I had none to waste.

Off I went in search of our appointed destination,

But then confusion turned into a kind of desperation.

I followed Sycamore past sixth, past fifth, past fourth to third

My faith in him not shaken, for he would keep his word.

I followed one-way arrows oh it was a merry chase,

And then I asked directions from a man on fifth and race.

He winked at me and chuckled, "He handed you a line."

"In Cincinnati, Sycamore runs parallel to Vine."

My heart was numb, my life stood still, I put it in the past,

For love was just insanity and I was sane at last.

The years flew by, my love and I had gone our separate ways,

And I found other friends enough to fill my empty days.

But Springtime leads me back again to wandering in the park.

Where we first met, my love and I, as it was turning dark.

I leaned against the big old tree we shared so long ago,

My fingers tracing memories as though the tree would know.

I twirled the ivy clinging to the aging sycamore

And hidden deep within it was a message that it bore:

"I love you so and always will" was carved upon the tree,

And then I knew that this was where my love had waited me.