Those petals of memories still flutter

Alone in my sorrow, turned to stone
memories still shifting, like petals in the wind
drifting into the oblivion of the absence of you
fading like the last sliver of sun
as night falls down over all that was once light
a weightless devastation, a silent conquering
a reclaiming of the domain
in which no traces of you now remain

Here in this desolate place
the things of darkness hold court
the leaves in the trees whisper
unseen birds call out into black seas
that ebb and flow through everything
leaving a cold sheen everywhere that it has been

Somewhere in the shadows
those petals of memories still flutter
I hear them echoing out of reach
I am lost in time and space
as fragments and pieces of you
fade and reappear like dreams
that settle for moments
long enough for me to recognise
before they shift

I am suddenly floating in emptiness
left with just a lingering feeling that I cannot place
a beautiful tragedy that breaks my heart
I find myself again at that unmarked grave
that long forgotten place
where those petals were once laid
and where the spirits linger and call your name

The sky closes in around me
rain falls endlessly in the darkness
its musical refrain long transformed
into my constant pain
needles that sting again and again
as the waters rise and the floods remain
the rivers and lakes cannot be contained
and what they sweep away
can never be regained

© Ann Bagnall