…become our threnody

My heart still wanders 
in our secret places
those hidden places 
where love was once born
and where it was once lost 
in endless repetition
shifting back and forth
from the heat of summer
to the frozen shadows 
of the lingering winter
the beat of our hearts
keeping time with the cycles 
of the seasons 
never falling to rest 
together

now once again
I have drifted back
into this place of blooming
where my heart calls to yours 
in the dawning
and the familiar fragrance
of flowers
floats in on gentle winds
from the last gasps
of the vanishing night

my soul aches 
to swim once more
in the oceans of your dreams
but I languish
starless and empty 
upon the barren shores
the weight of destiny 
falls heavily in the moment
along with the last of the petals
omens once disregarded 
now becoming truths

here
where you and I 
and the free-falling leaves
are drifting once more
in our winter waters 
where both the silence 
and the songs of death
call softly to me
where I am still not free 
from the wild winds 
of my mourning

I see our ashes 
drifting in the ebb tide
as I linger here
beneath the last stars
longer than my heart can bear
my sorrow rising on gentle wings
the whispers of the sea 
are now calling to me

the souls of the dead 
are not at rest
and while these may be 
our winter fields
the moon still rises 
and the moon still sets
our song still plays 
upon my heart
memories become our threnody

the soft seasons ever circling
where my heart still wanders 
in our secret places
those hidden places 
where love was born
and where it was lost 
in endless repetition
© Ann Bagnall