Beyond the jade garden walls where the carp swim circles in the fountain
I built a throne of lotus flowers for the princess of my daydreaming
The stone lions guard the entrance to the world we were constructing
Where time moved slower than the clouds across the summer sky
Your laughter scattered like the jasmine perfume in the evening breeze
The gardener's daughter warned me that obsession kills the blossoms
I did not listen to the wisdom carved in ancient temple letters
For beauty often grows in soil fertilized by foolish passion
We planted seeds of promises that never sprouted into harvest
The weeds consumed the flowerbeds where we knelt to water future
Your father built a wall between the eastern and western gardens
And I became a ghost who haunts the pathways of your childhood
Now autumn paints the maples red with hemorrhaging reflections
The pavilion where we read our books collects the leaves of letting go
I close my eyes and see the garden still alive with your presence
A paradise preserved in amber of the moment we first met
