a forest clearing

within a forest clearing they
committed to each other,
and soon, and in the common way,
they added in another,
another, and another in
the family that they’d started;
for in a forest clearing, they’d
vowed never to be parted.

but time cuts down the tallest trees,
and age is fate’s unveiling;
she comes upon the clearing now
alone and with health failing,
but vows are no less true because
our loves slip through a portal,
nor has a life been meaningless
because it turns out mortal