…reveals

A woman looks back
she bears her pain
tired of crying alone
weary of the whisperings within
the mirror reveals
the shadows on her face

‘did you really turn him away?
with a wringing of the hands
and with words you cannot say?
were you holding on to small things
that once nourished you?‘

in the hollow of your hand
you held what remained
of shattered dreams
turning them over and over
to still the storm of the heart
until the emptiness within you
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 you
standing here alone

‘was there any other way?‘

no ripple shows
the river runs unruffled
but tears taste the same
© Ann Bagnall