I Have Stood for Centuries

The light is slowly fading
dissolving like dust
into the rising ocean of evening
darkness descends
and a weeping wind sings
as solitude slowly surrounds me

now drenched in midnight
I am a ghost, an apparition
silent and ever alone
formless fingers brush my alabaster skin
cold as the ancient stone
laid long ago beneath my feet
here in the dust and the shadows
and the fallen leaves

I have stood for centuries
that have passed like petals
down the river of time
dreamlike and fragrant
the passage of time and I
are the only constancy here
destined to repeat each day
and each night
as silent observers
of transformation and decay

cursed by immortality
these stony eyes
have witnessed much
the cycles of life and death
torment me in my solitude
a prisoner in this place
freedom is just a word
yet I suffer this with grace

the crow is my sentinel
the keeper of my secrets
his glossy eyes see all that I see
standing silent and unmoving here
each morn he cries into the dawn
his song, a lament for my plight
that fades upon the black winds
raised by his silken wings
as he circles in silent flight

© Ann Bagnall