A Sonnet to Old Love

    by Mariejoy A. San Buenaventura

Alone and drifting on a frigid night,

I felt the pain of love’s inconstancy.

Left in the barren wake of passion’s flight

were ashes of a flame that fled from me.

But then a man with winter in his hair,

And a lady who kept her beauty’s glow

Through fading face and eyes that spoke of care

Trod lonely thoughts into the sullied snow,

for as they passed me by, their arms entwined,

though knees were weak and steps were never sure,

to spite the frailty the years assigned,

with fleeting strength and love that will endure.

So gently did they chide my callow heart

for craving not love’s warmth, but fiery start.

© 2010 Mariejoy A. San Buenaventura

Mariejoy A. San Buenaventura teaches English and creative writing at Mahidol University in Thailand just outside Bangkok. Her writing consists mostly of poetry because she loves the way it allows her to contain an experience in a vial of words.  She has been previously published in the Anthology of New England Writers 2007.