…in this grief

My heart is a cold stone
drowning in shallow waters
searching for a lost reflection

my precious memories of you
disappearing like silent ripples
sweeping across the face of the mirror

just a momentary distortion in time
drifting for mere seconds in a cloud
then nothing but clear glass

as she displays her hollow reflection
the mirror does not sense my pain
or see the shining void within

nor does she feel, the aching absence
where even the constant shadows
do not show themselves

yet their presence is tangible to me
their whispers unrelenting
a constant reminder of my loss

now the soft chimes of the clock
relentlessly mark the hours
her rhythm in conflict with my heart

ever in fast, forward motion
she has no concept of looking back
she does not sense time, slipping away

nor feel the aching need
the desperation, to rewind, to escape
the formless weight of sorrow

only I, hear those seductive whispers
weaving their tangled threads
of both truth and illusion

promising answers
to unanswered questions
breaking the shattering silence

planting seeds of hope
in an undivided darkness
light words, lead to dark thoughts

the night is falling faster now
I feel the breath of butterflies
soft upon my skin

I turn to the song of the wind
and answer the call of the sea
nature’s magnificent alchemy

as the veils of moonlight
now vanish before me
only to return in their time

my heart now knows the truth
love can endure through darkness
time and distance are ethereal

alone here in this place
with only the absence of you
I have found myself once more

dissolving in this grief
melting like salt into water
I am finally answering the echoes

I am falling into the mirror
where pain can be repainted
made beautiful, on reflection

© Ann Bagnall