…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