Farewell To Islay ©

We met when I was a fool
I can't deny that I knew love
or a good thing
when it came my way.
And somehow you did.
From beyond the sea.
From mythic Islay.

A young man dreams
of beauty in the highest
of the Gods of fortune bringing bounty;
and yes, I saw you,
I really saw you
when they came true.
You were tremulous shyness
a tender lilting song
islander strength
the foaming surge
of your crystal clear ocean.
Your blonde, blue eyed beauty
was the least of it

But you were love that slipped
through careless fingers,
from a careless life...
Oh, we wandered through the snow
past the bustling Doublet
through the silent Botanical Gardens
in a mist of intenerated tones
to the Queen Margaret Halls,
smitten beyond all sense or reckoning,
hesitating tenderly to kiss soft waiting lips
stammering, laughing and hardly believing,
eyes and hearts so fondly open
to each other,
to that young world
in winter's coolest clarity
and were warmed forever.
And, aye, through Kelvin Grove we strolled
amongst children running wild in winter sunshine
through the last of autumn's leaves, tumbling free
where this heart was lost to all that you were
Islander innocent, islander wise
A rare, swaying aura that was Islay
Yet still, still, I recklessly figured
A bit part was good enough for you!

What is it that really matters here?
I might have asked myself
and could have made a start
to living a worthwhile life.
But all of my so called intellect
was aloft, on blind wings
or juggling mindlessly
on lower tracks I couldn't jump
and in the end I let it all go;
no explanation why,
no farewell to Islay,
silently, as if we'd never been
except for a wintry absence
of your laughter in Kelvin Grove
of traces in the snow.