Die ungezählte Geliebte

Die ungezählte Geliebte

I saw you again this afternoon.

You’d left your bike against the sunny wall

In the valley under the castle ruin.

You had crossed the narrow wooden bridge

Over the little stream

To sit on the grass beneath a tree.

And were you waiting there for me?

Over the years we’ve met from time to time

And never once exchanged a word.

Our eyes have linked again and again

And we have both looked down,

And I’ve had nothing, nothing to say

To hold up the moving day,

And stop the moment passing by.

In shops I have seen you now and then

Patiently queueing to pay,

Or waiting for the train to rattle in

On a busy station on the Circle Line.

I have seen you in bars and on mountain paths

But we have never stopped to talk.

Each time we continued on our track

And climbed into our different cars

And gone our different ways,

With just one hesitant look back.

Our eyes have met again and again

And then we both have looked aside,

And I’ve had nothing, nothing to say,

To hold you there and change the years to come.

And each one on our separate way

We’ve both gone on with our day to day.