An alley hides behind the crowded square
Where lantern light hangs low and warm
Rain threads down between the faded bricks
Perfume mingles with the brewing storm
There we carved our names along the frame
Shy initials in a secret flame
Years advanced with heavier coats and keys
Different doors and foreign sets of stars
We learned languages of loss and pride
Traveled further than our earliest scars
Yet beneath attire of grown concern
Those timid letters still return
Tonight I wander back through fragrant mist
Street musicians hum a tender tune
Children chase the glimmer on the stones
Vendors call beneath a crooked moon
On the doorway wood I press my hand
Feeling echoes rise like breathing sand
Should another stranger see that mark
They will never guess the worlds it holds:
Two young hearts that trembled by this gate
Hoping time would guard what they foretold
Even when the lantern’s glass grows dim
Our hidden names keep shining from within