In the sunlight under the painted white and blue sky

Cotton candy clouds slowly pass by

Skirts swish in the cool grassy meadow

We are vibrant under the saturated golden glow 

Braiding intricate patterns into each other's hair

I can see pretty butterflies fluttering in the air

You and I sit beside the lane threading pastel flower crowns

Oh, what a daydream

The toss and turn of the gurgling stream

Dashing through a hilly domain

Hearing beautiful titters of faraway songbirds

Collecting cream-colored pebbles along the lane

Dear friend, grab your gloves and flowered hat

Let us embark on an outing

Laid out on my bed

Are the faded yellow dress and bleached white stockings

I wore when I was with you on our weekend excursions

My round straw hat on the bedside table 

So very lonely without the laced blossoms you gifted me every time

Although its grief is nothing 

Compared to the longing I feel for your company

On this foggy, cloudy day

I find myself wistful, stuck in a fountain of fond memories

Of the joyous time we spent together

Picnicking under the shade of an old sycamore tree

Oh, why couldn’t you have stayed?

Our time together seems so distant, almost a decade ago

Now, alone, I must suffer in this cold concrete prison of a room

I do not wish to leave this lifeless gated fortress of a mansion

For the dreariness of the outside world multiplied tenfold when you departed

Oh, why couldn’t you have stayed? 

Now I must watch the children playing in the streets alone

Look! How happy they are, while I am here suffering afar

If I even dared step out of this dark, lifeless room

Could I ever bear the stares and mutters about my cluttered appearance?

I hide in this ancient house in solitude

A woman, Josie, long since took over my outside duties

Every creak of the floorboards noisy and unnerving

Dear friend, I have waited so long for your return

I can hardly bear the suspense every time Josie checks the mail

My patience can last an eternity and beyond, but the dark, cold unknowing…

Will you ever write back?

A strange rumor, Josie brought back today

About a lovely little lady, with gorgeous strawberry blonde hair, emerald eyes

She says the young lady carries white gloves and wears a colorful flowered hat

Are you, perhaps, in the town square?

Will tomorrow be the day I finally venture to the stuffy, loud market to find you?

This must be my hundredth letter, but

Dear friend, what has happened in your life? Is it as dull as mine?

Thousands of sheets of paper are accumulating just outside the door

But entranced, she writes more

Dear friend, dear, dear, dear friend

Why have you not responded to me?

I have patiently awaited your eloquent words for far too many years

For the dreariness of the outside world multiplied tenfold when you departed

Josie has informed me, though, can it be true?

The astonishment I have learned of you

She said, dear friend, that you have passed on

Now finally, I fear that I am truly alone

As I watch the hands holding the pencil wither and shrivel

Each day the yellow dress and bleached white stockings lay on my bed

Although I fear I am aching, too frail, to even wear them

I have lived out my days searching for an answer on faded yellow stationary paper

Yet all I find is disappointment, misery, despair

Dear friend, no matter how tight I grasp, the memories of you are rapidly fading from my mind

Did you have light brown hair or shimmering golden locks?

Were your eyes dark and mysterious or light and bright?

I fear my insignificant life is coming to an end

And I know, very well, that we will never, ever again, enjoy the meadows together

And for three days I have been ill in my bed, but all I can do is write to you

Your departure compelled me, for the first time in years to look in a mirror

My once rosy complexion is a sickly gray, my hair streaked with white

But 

You and I

Shall forever bask in the sun

Under the painted blue sky and cotton candy clouds

Braiding flower crowns

Young and carefree

In this joyful reverie