Secret Gardens

My grandmother’s house is still there but it isn’t the same
A plain wooden cottage, a patch of brown lawn
And a fence that hangs standing and sighing in the Seattle rain
I drive past the strangers and wish they could see what I see
A tangle of summer birds flying in sunlight
A forest of lilies, an orchard of apricot trees
Secret gardens of the heart where the flowers bloom forever
I see you shining through the night in the ice and snow of winter
Great grandfather’s house is still there but it isn’t the same
The barn is torn down and the fences are gone
The Idaho wind blows the topsoil away every spring
I still see the ghosts of the people I knew long ago
Inside the old kitchen they bend and they sigh
My life passed them up and the world in it’s way passed them by
Secret gardens of the heart where the old stay young forever
I see you shining through the night in the ice and snow of winter
But most of all it is me who has changed but I’m still the same
That’s me at the weddings, that’s me at the graves
Dressed like the people who once looked so grown up and brave
I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me
I see willows bending, the season is spring
Silver blue sailing birds fly with the sun on their wings
Secret gardens of the heart where the dreams live on forever
I see you shining through the night in the ice and snow of winter
Secret gardens of the heart where the flowers bloom forever
I see you shining through the night in the ice and snow of winter