A Collection of Poems

A Love So Alike: A Modern Retelling of Tristan and Isolde

I sit by your bed asking myself why,

What it was that was so wrong,

Cancer spread quickly and quietly,

I was forbidden from your side,

But, now, in the end, I am here,

Granted those last few moments with you,

You lay there silent just staring up at me with those beautiful chestnut eyes,

I can't help but begin to tear up,

Do you remember the first of our times together?

Your boat had crashed onto the rocks and you lay afloat on top of the murky water,

I remember fishing on the docks when I saw you float past me,

The water was cold yet I jumped in after you,

You barely drew breath from your water-clogged lungs,

At the base of the river, I helped you to my cabin,

In the light of the fire, you drew your first breath,

Your chest rising and falling,

One breath after the other,

I remember reading your poems and stories of wolves,

Even with two broken ribs you still managed to let out a laugh,

I smiled as you winced in the aftershock of pain you felt,

I would just shake my head knowing that you're better than that,

Days then began to pass and you magically healed,

At times I could find you up in the limbs of the trees overhead,

Up there I knew you felt a freedom no words could ever express,

Your brown muddy hair fluttered in the wind coming from the west,

You were so alive at that moment,

I remember falling asleep in your arms,

The radio playing softly in the background,

How is it I was so in love then and even now?

My body was covered in nothing but the musty blankets that lay scattered across the floor,

Your hand gliding down the small of my back,

I had laid myself beside you and with you,

You told me our hearts had mated from that first glance,

I was the one gazed upon and you were a commotion within; a tumult,

Through it all, I began to forget I was engaged to another,

Drawing myself away from a love I once only knew,

You become well only to leave my side,

In time we meet once again,

At a party to celebrate my forthcoming marriage,

I found myself in shock at knowing you were to become my brother,

In tears, I fled into the forests to shield myself from their gazes,

I remember your arms wrapping around my waist,

Feeling the warmth of your breath on the back of my neck,

I turn as you use your sleeve to wipe away the tears from my eyes,

You swore no woman has taken my place since our parting,

The wind then began to blow hard against us as if pulling us to each other,

I prolonged my engagement so I could see you,

Finding my heart no longer loving the man I was engaged to,

My heart along with every fiber of my being sang for you and only you,

Weeks passed us by until one fateful day tore us apart,

He followed me to your place,

Not knowing our kiss on the front steps would be our last,

I then found myself banished from you,

But, now I sit here beside you one last time,

Why couldn't you ever tell me you were sick, my love,

You take my hand in yours only to rest it against your cheek,

Don't be brave for me, my love,

I hear the violent cough rattling beneath your chest,

Your body is pale the color of ghosts they tell in children's stories,

Why must you die like this?

Are you dying because of our sins,

The lies we've told just to see each other again,

I cry again not wanting you to leave me forever,

I can sense your time is drawing near,

My lips touch yours for the final and last time,

Pulling your hand back I press it against my lips,

With that, I uttered these words,

"Know that I love you, wherever you go, whatever you see. I will always be with you."

A smile places itself across your lips,

With your dying breath, you spoke your final goodbye,

"I don't know if life is greater than death. But love was more than either."

Drawing that last bit of strength to say those words,

Only to have your eyes close forever in the end,

I scream your name only to hear it echo off the walls of your hospital suite,

I never thought the one love I would have would pass on into the afterlife like this,

At your final resting place is a set of words engraved into that of marble evergreen stone,

"My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we find two better hemispheres Without sharp north, without declining west? Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally; If our two loves be one, or thou and I Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die." ~The Good Morrow/John Donne~

For his name was Tristan and I was his Isolde.