Love’s secret meanings

It’s not just anybody’s world
           it is our world
shaped by our choices
           and by our actions
and by the accumulation
           of gestures and words
that jealously guard
           their secret meaning

Think of the flowers
           that have come and gone
richly-coloured roses
           irises and orchids
think of the meals shared
           along with stretches
of the river
           and airport waiting lounges

Think of all the streets
           where we have left
a little of our dust
           think of the love
in all its intimacy
           that nobody
but you and I
           have known

John Lyons