…reveals

Looking backwards
I bear my pain, tired of crying alone
weary of the whisperings within
the mirror reveals the shadows on my face
‘did I really turn him away?
with a wringing of the hands
and with words I cannot say?
was I holding on to small things
that once nourished me?‘
in the hollow of my hand
I held what remained
of shattered dreams
turning them over and over
to still the storm of the heart
until the emptiness within me
was no longer there
‘what need is there to speak of this?‘
for there was so much pain
by no other name but love
where there was a beginning
there is now an end
and here, and now, there is just me
standing here alone
‘was there any other way?‘
no ripple shows
the river runs unruffled
but tears taste the same
© Ann Bagnall