A Year Poem by Dan Brown

A year since those days
of linked lips and upturned mouths -
something called a smile.
I can't believe it's a year...
A year since those days:
flashes of brilliance and
our best behaviour
as toffs and royalty rode past.
Do you remember
the canvas-covered cuddles
and the heat we made
beneath the star-speckled skies?
The tigers and sharks
that visited in the night?
I had hoped you might.
It's been a whole year...
Hundreds and hundreds of days...
Since we parted ways
and yet the memory stays.
Because I love you?
Maybe, but there's more to it
than impotent love.
Those were days of contentment;
of loud car voices
and mowing down the fences
that obstructed us.
I watched as you took the wheel,
drunk on your spirit,
and crashed through the undergrowth
heading for freedom.
A year... Since those days.
And what has gone in between?
Special words and such?
New memories and friends made?
No. Nothing at all
but fighting and confusion.
Hidden from the Queen
on that day a year ago
and saved just for me
in the pockets of your suit.
I hope you still smile...
Because everyone should smile
at least once a year.