Dedicated to Stel, for undeserved friendship and faith.
When all you know is gone to dust,
And heart’s slow beat is dead to trust;
And all you have is yesterday’s,
Ashes drifting slow away…
How is it that you still remain,
Living midst these blasted plains?
How can you dare,
To be alive,
When everything about has died?
What is this flutter in your chest:
A hope long since thought laid to rest?
How dare you stand here in the dark,
And feel inside you life’s bright spark!
Do you not see laid around,
Sorrow’s cause upon the ground?
Or are you blind and are you deaf,
To misery’s dark warp and weft?
- - -
I’ve seen, I see, and more still comes,
To break my heart - bring me undone.
Anguish, grief, loss and love…
Tell me: have I not cried enough?
And more falls yet from aching eyes;
Hoping only for a new sunrise.
The night’s dark folds are smoth’ring me,
And I’m drowning now in an endless sea.
For with you gone what more is left?
This gaping hole within my chest,
And a dark voice deep inside,
That does not sleep,
And will not hide.
It whispers to me, low and sly:
“What is this love that will not cry?
Your cheeks are dry,
Your heart is stone,
You deserve to be alone!”
And yet I know, if you were here,
You’d be the first to dry my tears.
No loss too stark or grief too strong,
To keep your smile away for long.
I crawl back up,
I find my feet.
The dark begins a slow retreat.
Here in these dusty, ruined plains,
I'll build a garden in your name.
--
"The worst part of losing someone isn't watching them go, it's knowing that this time you can't follow."
