15
The Lovers’ Tune
by Sydney Harrison
Two people stroll past me
And I think
How nice they look
A queen and her king
With their hands clasped together
And their strides in perfect time.
Their laughs harmonize
To the beat of their
Synchronized steps.
As they pass the bed of flowers,
The king interrupts their tune
To present her majesty with a dainty rose
And her majesty responds with a smile
And blushing cheeks to complement the flower's lovely hue.
But as the queen leans in to smell the flower,
She sees it is not real;
The petals are hard, sheening plastic,
And the stem is made of rusted steel.
Now she listens again as they continue their walk,
And the music is not as sweet. It sounds like
Spoons on tin cans, not saxophones and drums.
It is gloomier today than she remembered it being
When they first began their walk:
Soon, the queen no longer recognizes her king's soft laugh,
Which is thin, now, like a deflating balloon.
Instead of fresh linen summer days, she hears the empty rain.
Were the clouds always covering the sun?