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Lovely Things

The day that I first saw him
I was wearing a cloud-colored dress
With a satin ribbon in the back
And a white bow in my red hair.
His sapphire gaze struck me silent,
His gentle hands guided me to dance
Under the weeping willow tree
Behind my grandmother's garden.
"Beware," whispered I so quietly,
"I have a weakness for lovely things."
His grin made me feel faint,
His eloquent reply more so-
"And I, for things of beauty, for
None is more beautiful than you."
We oft would run hand-in-hand
Behind that old weeping tree,
He would sneak a kiss or two
Upon my rosy, blushing cheeks.
My lover of the gilded summer,
He kept me dreaming all day,
His hay-colored hair that hides
His lovely sky-colored eyes.
This lover of beauty, my dreamer,
Wished on shooting stars all night.
As the leaves started to slowly die
And dance their way to the ground,
I spied my love in the schoolyard
Holding the hand of another girl.
My heart was aghast at this scene
And it cracked slowly, so slowly,
Until finally it lay in a hundred pieces.
His eyes that sought only beauty
Had found someone better than I
And his heart had tired of my face.
My fingertips traced his name
Whenever the autumn sky rained
And my heart, fond of lovely things,
Never forgot that lover of beauty.
For whenever I stop and cherish
A delicate flower or brazen sunset
I see his blue eyes and straw hair.
Lovely things are so deceiving,
The fire bites and the rose pierces,
My lover searched for beauty
Where he knew he needn't search
And left me for a girl whose face
Is far prettier than I could hope for.
But he doesn't know this fact-
My heart is lovelier than hers
And I would have loved him fiercely.
I still sit under the weeping tree
And remember the dance that day,
The kisses and flower chains
I placed upon his eager heart.
I have a weakness for lovely things,
And oh, those same lovely things
Destroy me in such lovely ways.

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