A Leavetaking
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dear noble knight
do not think me cruel
for leaving you here in the autumn fields
watch instead the last
of the nodding wheat
i must go with the wind
follow it into the morning
you were ever kind
brought me the fairest of gifts
told me stories sang me songs
built me a tower of your own dreams
and locked me inside
i cannot fly within such walls
i cannot take responsibility
for bringing them down
i did not steal your heart
you gave it too freely
to one more interested in the sighs of gulls
dancing at the seashore
where you built castles of the future
the tide came
i loved you
as much as i could bear to love you
and not lose myself in the loving
there was a time i would have been your lady
now i am barely your friend
distant words unfelt glances
remember the happy times
remember the feeling of belonging
you taught me what it was
to be loved by one i could not love
not how you wanted
i have learned i have grown
the sadness in my soul has been burned clean
i am renewed like spring grass
i flew from your tower from your dreams
not because they were wrong
because they were not mine
because my hands did not bleed with the building
i will live within a prison 
of my own dark design
my stone
my blood
i never meant to be unkind
i do not want to be alone
for you to be alone
i will be a listening ear
but i will not be bound
i will not be bound

4/3/98