Scarecrow

On my wedding day
They only rang a single bell
No witness came
You had me all to yourself
A willow veil and gown of long leaf pine instead of lace
An embroidered train endowed with twines of every muted shade.

On my wedding day
Fronds of fern were flower girls
Their dresses frayed
And the rice replaced with earth
Love was my only journey until the dark swallowed me whole
Now no one will return me to your door

On my wedding day
Limbs of trees strained to receive
Forget-me-not bouquets
Though many called them wreaths
But of all the seasons Winter always tells the fewest lies
And on snowy days I'd slowly fade in folds of bridal white

Can a love start in a bloodless heart
Can it shelter my life in its shade
Will no one tell me why
I was fated to die
On the night before my wedding day?

On my wedding night
Beneath a waning moon I lay
Still as an ammonite
With thick coverings overlaid
I dreamed we'd been surrounded by
Peacock broods and damsel flies
With lilies pressed upon my breast
And silver in my eyes

On my wedding night
I lingered long but lay alone
No hint of morning light
No dew upon the lawn
There's a wilderness within these walls
This box of cold unanswered calls
Though desire lives on and survives the form,
It won't ever feel the dawn.

Now my wedding gown
Is on a scarecrow in a field
Won't you take it down
And lay it by my grave concealed
Of all the seasons Winter always tells the fewest lies
And on snowy days I slowly fade beneath folds of bridal white

Can a love start in a bloodless heart
Can it shelter my life in its shade
Will no one tell me why
I was fated to die
On the night before my wedding day?