21/4/1959 The Cherry Tree

To M.M.

The Cherry Tree

All time and space are pregnant
Only with the pulse of personality;
And your sweet presence felt
Made this young cherry tree, blossomed
White in spring, a thing of joy.

I saw you in your bridal dress
With laces past all human finery
And there, beneath it all,
The wonder and the loveliness
Of your perfect symmetry

And through my joy came memories
Of words of mine, so jaunty, brave and fine,
Now fallen flat and lost
In the dark uncompromising
Silence that besets my soul.

For from this silence came the truth
Too long denied, and even now to be
Abandoned 'ere its birth;
But now I know, beauty and truth
Are joy; sometimes bitter pain.

21st April, 1959

I hope you will not find this difficult....
but I dare not otherwise....and you must
discover for yourself.

Cyril's reference to 'words of mine' - I'm not sure whether he's talking about something he'd said to Marianne, or possibly his own wedding vows. Thoughts...?

NB: Creative licence for the photographing of this poem. No cherry blossom in my garden, so this is apple. You didn't notice, right? :-)