And time slowed down I could feel it, see it, hear it Yes, mostly I could hear it The sound of silence Only it was not silent It was a deafening roar Like a myriad clarion horns And it became totally dark With an absence of all sensation Other than sound And, as time moved slowly, inexorably To a standstill So, too, the sound moved Becoming thinner Becoming rhythmic, beating Until all I could hear was The voice of your heart Calling And I moved Although at first I could not see Or feel the ground beneath my feet Gradually my senses returned As first I became aware of The sweet heady scent of the forest And my eyes were bathed in an aura That on opening them Was coming from the golden foliage of the trees And I was neither surprised To see the raven in front of me on the path Nor alarmed when he spoke to me Reminding me of my hunger And leading me to the delicacies You had placed to sustain me on my journey And the berries quenched my thirst And sated my hunger More than any feast ever had before I followed the path until ahead of me The way was blocked By a shimmering gold web And as I approached I saw the gossamer strands begin to dissolve And coalesce into your form I lifted you and laid you down in the moss And drank you with my eyes Caressing you gently with my strong hands The voices of our hearts sang in harmony Time picked up from where it left off And we were together through autumn And the changing seasons Carefree in love and happiness