With Every Step You Take from Me

I loved you once when hearts were wild,

When youth was brave and time was kind;

The years went by — the stars compiled

The echoes you left in my mind.

Through sleepless years your name would stir,

Like gentle heather near the sea;

Then fate returned your face, and her

Soft hand reopened memory.

Whatever fate has taken, kept,

This timeless serendipity.

I guard a love that never slept,

With every step you take from me.

I do not curse what could not stay,

Nor beg the tide to turn again;

Love lingers where it lost its way,

More faithful for its share of pain.

And if, by grace, your heart recalls

A whisper from old Liberty,

Know this: my soul forever falls

With every step you take from me.