In many lifetimes
I have loved you in many lifetimes
each time around my heart is shattered
pieces scattered in your wake
I have burned for centuries
in the flames ignited by a glimpse of your face
your whispers drifting in the silence
your eyes looking deep into my soul
Night after endless night
my existence is comprised
of long interludes of waiting
and brief seconds of hope
Shifting back and forth
between floating and drowning
as the hourglass that holds me circles in time
and I fall through the centre
My landing is soft in the sands
I test if it is real and it slips through my hands
but before I can take a breath I am tumbling again
slipping on the empty glass beneath my feet
as the sand covers me like rain
In my desolation
I have sought to extinguish our flames
gasping for air I am burning
the fire rising higher as the winds of change blow in
Alone in my desperation time stands still
my demons dance as the fire climbs
sucking the oxygen from every corner of this place
purging my soul and your lingering ghost
In the aftermath and the swirling smoke
listening to the last cracks of devastation
the last breaths of chaos
Reality falls gently down with the ashes
formless
yet heavy
with the weight of consequence
© Ann Bagnall