A different knot

They met rather late in their lives

Honey-gatherers at abandoned hives

He hesitated a bit; and she just shied 

A different knot they tied...

He ignored her charms, but charming she was!

She ignored his concern, but caring he was!

They denied whilst their hearts pined

A different knot they tied...

They longed but neither seemed to confess

These grown-ups were taking such baby steps!

They were meant to be - this fate did decide

A different knot they tied...

Chance events kept putting them together

And absence made their hearts grow fonder

Who was the driver, for they were the ride

A different knot they tied...

Their togetherness did add a zeal

A reason to live - they both did feel

A cloudburst over some land that had dried

A different knot they tied...

How he wished they had met in time

Not just he, they were both partners in crime

Some paths just take a lifetime to collide!

A different knot they tied...

There was a park bench that they nearly did own

Where they whispered something from eve to morn

Seemed like they had nothing left to hide

A different knot they tied...

They knew they could never have a kid

Though secretly both so wished they did!

He was her baby, she was his child

A different knot they tied...

Then old age crept like the blanket of night

Weakened their bodies; snatched their might 

He nursed her till the day she died

A different knot they tied...

At their park bench he now sits alone

When she was around, it was their throne

He is the groom, she was his bride

A different knot they tied... 

Acknowledgments - Painting illustration - Greg Cartmell