…my broken heart

I was alone before you came, alone and lost from all
my heart in pieces, scattered round like shards of broken glass
I was adrift in the quiet dark in a faraway place
where only memories bloomed and only sadness grew
I built a place, a place of stone, I built it over time
I built it high, with bricks and tears and fragments of my soul
that place and I grew steadfast friends
and with the strongest of resolve
day by day that place and I, we faded, from the world
we turned away, from dreams of love from happiness, from peace
and toiled alone to make them strong, the walls, that kept us in
and in that place, I ran from me, denied all that I was
and so each day, page by page, rewrote my history
in that place, without the light, I never saw my loss
until the day, the fateful day
there came the breeze of change
in the dark, a flame appeared, a terrifying sight
it flickered wildly in my soul, in burnished hues of love
and yes, in all the shades of you
I put my hands across my eyes and turned my face away
vowed again, to stay inside and not to enter the fray
you did not heed my deepest fears
nor listen to my doubts
despite the stones that blocked your way
your soul reached out to mine
and around the walls you endlessly circled
and planted seeds that flourished
a garden, a joy to see, rising from the darkness
creeping inch by inch across the ebbing night to me
stone by brutal stone you fought
and saved me from this place
this place of loneliness and endless misery
you tore it down and helped me see
what was before unseen
and piece, by broken piece
you gathered up my heart and gave it back to me
© Ann Bagnall
2015