…your shadow still lingers

You and I were once two leaves
ever clinging to our shadows
in the autumn of our seasons
an endless connection of joy and mischief
but deep in our hearts we always knew
that winter must come and one of us would walk alone
oh how I long for one more yesterday
now through my soul and I
a cold wind blows
you slipped imperceptibly away
carried by gentle ghosts in quiet songs of sorrow
soft like whispers, to the loving, waiting arms
of those who went before
my pain is unseen in the brightness of day
where lightless, I walk the bridge of shadows
silence weaves threads of ink through my grief
deeply painted into all our yesterdays and all my tomorrows
now through my soul and I
a blue wind blows
melancholy lingers from night to day
even the flowers fade
into the shadows, nothing to say
I hide myself away
trading tomorrows for one yesterday
my heart drowning in waves of sorrow
lost deep in the ripples of this sad reality
now through my soul and I
a black wind blows
tomorrow’s songs now lost to yesterday
life’s last exhales enshroud the day
all that I knew, now just dust and shadows
I still see your face and my tears give me away
as I listen to the hours slipping away
my heart fills with lilies
oh how they flourish in the dark and shadows
now through my soul and I
a soft wind blows
the tides of loss overwhelm me this day
the now final vestige of all that we shared
our tomorrows have become our yesterdays
my candle is burning ever so slowly away
with the dying breath of our final day
nightingales sing, lamenting my sorrow
now through my soul and I
a wind of loss blows
and in the end, behind me
your shadow still lingers
this day and I lost in the echoes of yesterday
my sorrow and I, long to drift away
but now through my soul and I
not a breath of wind blows
© Ann Bagnall