A cowled figure moves silently, unseen in the darkness beneath the tress of the park. Moonlight briefly catches the pale skin of a cheek but reveals nothing more of the face within the heavy grey hood. The air is still, disturbed solely by misty breath. The only sound in the solitude of the night is a man singing. From the bushes ahead his voice filters through the bare branches, rising and falling with a lilting, aching melody.
Is it fair to write a song to a woman
Is it fair play to try and win her heart
The shadow slides closer to the bushes and crouches behind them, the hood slipping a little to reveal the fine features of a young woman, of no more than seventeen years. Her lips part in wonder at the words she is hearing.
Is it right to bring her sonnets
In the morning time
To express the first few
Longings when they start
She looks out from her hiding place and into a clearing. There is a stone fountain in the centre with a low wall surrounding the pool at its base. Leaning back against it is the man, sitting on his coat to keep away the icy chill of the frozen grass. He is well dressed in smart attire and if not for the silvery glow of the stone behind, he would blend seamlessly with the night. Barely above a whisper he repeats the words and sighs.
To express the first few
Longings when they start
She watches him look up to the moon, it's delicate light plays across the hard lines of his handsome face. There is a faint scent of his cologne in the air that only reaches her now and breathing it in she savours the familiar fragrance.
Is it right to let her feelings
Rise to catch you?
Is it OK when her heart begins to fall
Her eyes fall upon the journal he has open and laid upon one thigh, the leg bent at the knee. His other leg stretches out in front of him. Freshly laid words grace the page, the ink still shimmering, but his hand hovers above the paper, stilled as he recites what is already set.
Would you blame me if I
Wrap my words around you girl
Would I wrong you
To say anything at all
Would I wrong you
To say anything at all
Carefully, keeping her movements slow to avoid disturbing the frost-coated branches of the bush, she shifts position slightly to better see the features of the man. In this unguarded moment, emotions slide freely over his face, passion, tenderness, a frown of uncertainty or perhaps wariness. Her blue eyes never leave him so entranced is she, and the earlier tension in her body eases as she listens, the softening of her features suggests being near him is somewhere comfortable. Tilting her head she considers his words as the song continues.
But if I wrap my words around you
Wrap my words around you
If I wrap my words around you
Would you stay
Would you stay, would you
Wrap my words around you
Wrap my words around you
If I wrap my words around you
Would you stay
Would it play with your heart
He looks down to his journal and begins to write, singing the words as he pens them, the scratching of the nib a fine accompaniment to his voice, and his words spiral wistfully around the clearing.
Am I a hunter if
I send poems to please you
Am I a cad if
I mean everything I say
The girl's hand reaches up slowly, fingers lightly touching moist lips. For a moment she smiles, but what might once have been filled with joy, is now saddened by regret and longing.
Should I even let you know
This song's about you girl
Just because I want to see you smile today
The man stops writing again and lifts his head to the stars in a darkened sky. For a long time there is silence. Even the water in the fountain is quiet, frozen in its curving path to the pool below, tiny crystals glistening where droplets of water splashed before the cold night air stole their movement.
Then his words start to flow with a fluidity that swathes the hidden figure in their charm and power.
And my words may bind you
To me much too tightly
You may choke on them if we fall apart
It's not fair to write a song to a woman
Because a woman takes a song into her heart
Because a woman takes a song into her heart
She drops her head suddenly, casting eyes to the ground. The movement causes a slight rustle of the branches and her body tenses immediately. She holds her breath and looks up at him fearfully.
But, lost in the lyrics he so skilfully creates the man does not notice, and the song continues with an energy driven by the sentiment he wishes to express.
So let me wrap my words around you
Wrap my words around you
Wrap my words around you
Till you stay, till you stay, let me
Wrap my words around you
Wrap my words around you
Darling, wrap my words around you
She squeezes her eyes shut and tears fall as diamonds. A sigh too faint to reach the man's ears expresses the pain she feels and when she looks up at him again, a yearning takes her. She reaches out and almost pulls back the thin veil of concealment between them, but catches herself at the last moment. His final words wash over her.
Till you stay
Would it play with your heart
With the last strains of his song her face crumples in sorrow. Unable to look upon the only person she ever truly loved, she slips away from the bush and the clearing, choking back more tears until she has left the park. A vision of desolate beauty, she walks the city streets and is seen by the few awake at this late hour.
The decision is made and a necessary one.
And as she walks, the city, then the world fall behind. But they are never forgotten.