Au Revoir

By Susan Swain Tabor

Church bells softly chiming
I watch you this morning
So early, up so early,
Walking alone in the apple orchard
Slowly looking at the blossom-laden
Branches, branches so heavy with blooms.
You stop, smell them, your strong arm reaches up
Gently pulling them down, down towards you
To breathe in the heavenly fragrance.
Pink everywhere. From where I stand so far away,
I am lulled, drugged with the sweet perfumed air.

The rows of trees like railroad tracks
Converging into the distance. You walking away,
Further and further away, turning around, waving ,
Then disappearing into a horizon of pink.
My eyes begin closing, my eyelids so heavy.
I try to say “See you soon, Darling,” but
Everything so slow, so sweet, so fragrant.
All I see now is the emptiness of the color pink.
I am lulled, drugged with the sweet perfumed air.

Church bells ring louder and louder
A silver pitcher gleams in my startled gaze
Beaded with dewy droplets of water
Filled with pink apple blossoms’ haze,
Engraved with June 1, 1928, our wedding day.
And then I remember in the sweet perfumed air
I must endure another day without you.

Susan Swain Tabor

Susan Swain Tabor is the great-granddaughter of CCC’s first minister, Leonard Swain, and is currently writing his biography