First Love

(in response to writing prompt "love" from Sunday Scribblings)

*******

you'd been tucked

in my heart's scrapbook

under "first broken heart"

all those years

but

the other day

i heard

a john denver song

you fill up my senses

like a night in a forest...

follow me where i go

what i do and who i know...

and

i was 15 again

summertime

and the livin' was easy

summer camp

poolside chases

easy flirting

hormones crazy

and demanding

walks by the lake

nighttime kisses

in the chapel

first time kissing

like the french

delirious laughter

even tear-soaked moments

of pure, innocent joy

the astonished wonder

of love

we dreamed

of rocky mountain highs

eagles and hawks

west virginia country roads

and i see it differently now

you gave me

the rapturous experience

of being loved

for the first time

heart fluttering

over love letters

and marathon phone calls

a hand to hold

eyes seeing beauty in me

innocent dreaming

fairy-dust-soaked days

and since then i've learned

that love is bigger

than loss

and love can heal

a broken heart