Persuasion

The bugles sounded, trumpets blown, the War had been won

The brave young sailors bound ashore, their calls of duty done.

Scars and stars so bravely worn, their pride was in the prime

And then I saw you come at last, my heart stepped back in time.

Eight long years dear time had spun, since you and I’d met last

The meeting seemed but just the same, but warmth a thing of past.

I could not talk, you would not talk, our reasons seemed too strong

You had been wronged too much back then, and I was much too wrong.

Nineteen was a funny age, how can I testify

The role that persuasion played, I cannot justify.

There was a time when I was the cynosure of your eyes

Now comes a time when even my reflection you despise.

I do recall the vows of trust, the promises you’d made

I can’t forget the tender time, my conviction was swayed.

The lack of trust that shrouds your gaze, I infer with regret

You’ve not at all forgiven me, neither did you forget.

Back then, a fleeting thought of me and I’d see a smile adorn

Your words once full of longing, they now just brim with scorn.

The time when seven seas were but a trivial distance cast

Now you sit across the table, but the distance is so vast.

                                                               

But in your hurting anger, did you once just care to see

My mind may have agreed to part , my heart did disagree.

Eight years have flown, Dear Captain and they went before they came

I may have left that naivety back, I still carry my maiden name.

There were young suitors who approached, with style and status high

Society ranks, the wealth and works, the influence did apply.

Gentlemen of honour, approved by kith and kin

I but refused each one of them, you must know why within.

Amidst the sea of mistakes, though, I must exert to say

My choices may have been too harsh, my feelings in a fray.

I know you may not listen, but I know I have to tell

My heart was only yours back then, its just yours now as well.

If you can but rise from the past and shun that frigid clime

Without a doubt I’d tell you that I’d not be persuaded this time.

To refuse those precious words of love, as I did so in the past

But tell me once, can your old love, be persuaded at last?