One Day

I will tell you when they met: in the burnished flush of autumn, when each rising of the sun turned each golden leaf more golden. With the trees and fields aflame, so the scholar's heart was stolen by that blushing, bold nymphet, In the burnished flush of autumn. I will tell you when they parted: in the middle of the winter, when each slicing of the moonlight filled her heart with thawless splinters. With the trees and fields laid bare, and each footpath silent, silver, so they lost each other's shadow in the middle of the winter. When shall they meet again? I cannot say for certain. Their lives have grown divergently, through seasons sparse and verdant. To meet again beneath those trees; more tempting than the serpent, but such temptation never fades, that much, I'd say, is certain. Inspired by 'One Day' by Christina Rossetti.