By a Whim Transfixed

Be careful where you carve your names.

By a Whim Transfixed

The stately oak stands proud, aloof.
It pays no heed to passing wind.
Against the strongest gale gives proof,
No humble bow with heart chagrined.

Far down the trunk the names are etched
Of lovers' passing hope proclaimed,
And though their pairing once far-fetched
Their union now by all acclaimed.

No thought of deep entanglements,
Mere flight of fancy to inscribe
A momentary dalliance,
Was all their names meant to describe.

Unknown, unwitting, they have tapped
An ancient magic Man forgot,
Their love within the oak now trapped
In brief affection's web been caught.

If lives must stray from fate's true path
Through artifice and ancient charm,
Beware the pent-up awful wrath
When storms and time the spell disarm.

Though passion will the spell fulfil
No magic can replace love's zeal
The hurricane which cracks the will
of mighty oak will truth reveal.

Their eyes in sudden light will blink
As names etched long before are scarred.
When hearts expose that hidden chink,
love's bonds fall ashen, bleak and charred.