A Summer's Dreaming

I know there was- a dream that I had,
But it is gone like a flash of sweet diamond noise.
There was someone in my dreams as flesh clad,
And her voice was as bright as the rainbow's bright joys.

But there was- I haven't been able to remember,
Ever since I returned from a summer spent by the sea,
Something of which the dreams are only an ember,
And even that less than the true memory.

There was someone- yes, I believe that there was,
A lover with eyes like leaves in summer's high days.
But I cannot remember if, without cause,
She would have left me; only the summer-bright ways

That we walked together, and the beach at night,
When she told me stories with words full of the sea.
I remember the stars- how close and how bright!
And I always knew it when her eyes rested upon me.

Oh, her voice! Like a wind in the branches it came,
As clear as the rocks which the waters wash clean,
High and sweet, the kind of music that can maim,
As much of the sea as the seagulls' cold keen.

And I know- I knew- the nights it seemed would not end,
When the fire flickered between us, and she was a dancer,
Opening wounds in my heart only her beauty could mend.
I did not ask if she loved me, for I knew the answer.

The dreams have all shattered; the stars have withdrawn.
I could go, if I wished, but no fire on the beach
Would soften the comfortless light of the dawn,
Or bring back that which is beyond my reach.

A summer's dreaming- a summer long gone,
And a lover I may never have had.
Why do I cling to the last notes of dreamsong?
Why can I never forget what I had?

There is one image that the dawn cannot take from me,
An image of her standing there after a storm,
Standing with arms lifted on the edge of the sea,
Golden skin flashing, her laughter sand-warm.

Golden the light of that endless dream-summer,
Golden the fire that sinks now to embers.
It is said the seashore will change any comer.
I cannot stop dreaming. Why can I not remember?