The Primrose Portfolio

Thisleeden [revised]
Thisleeden

Her hanging gardens waved farewell
Ivy curtains swaying
Her proud and handsome avenues
Age-old vistas yielding
Her causeway sloping to the ground
A wing extending freedom
Her white-capped domes an orrery
Of five half-moons receding

At last we're going home again
To distant Thistleeden
We'll never leave her walls again
They'll flourish horns in Thistleeden

Her meadows fainted on our hips
Silken grasses sighing
Her far lakes shuddered one by one
We could not bear to leave them
A playful brook caught up with us
And followed with abandon
Until it found the way too long
And circled back home whimpering

At last we're going home again
To distant Thistleeden
We'll never leave her walls again
They'll bury us in Thistleeden

The stars closed in and crowded her
Brushed her brass gates golden
The hills piled up and covered her
Coral towers hidden
A glow of lamps blushed on the clouds
Like a dream forbidden
As we retrace our errant steps
The glow warms us within

At last we're going home again
To distant Thistleeden
We'll never leave her walls again
They'll wreathe our necks in Thistleeden

The crooked road outruns us
It lengthens like a crack
It chews us up feet-first
Saves our memories for last
The jagged road ferocious
Strips away the flesh
Blurry eyes and swollen hearts
All that's left

At last we're going home again
To distant Thistleeden
We'll never leave her walls again
They'll carry us, they'll bury us
They'll carry in Thistleeden