…we surrendered to time

I whisper to you
not with just with words
but also, with silence
for in the silence
I hear the quiet hymns
of the slow shifting tides
and I feel the gentle pull
of the unseen gravity
of a love, vast enough
to cross oceans
yet also, fragile enough
to break us both

I stand here alone again
before another endless night
as one stands anxious
before an indisputable truth
unable to look away
unable to hide the pain
and in the moment
it strips me completely bare
every thought
every feeling
every wound
every tenderness
and every betrayal
exposed by the veils
of the moon

and yet I do not turn away
for what is love
if not surrender?
and what is surrender
if not luminous pain
somehow made beautiful?
again, last night
I had a dream
you walking beside me
our quiet steps
leaving footprints in the sand
the warmth
of your hand in mine
and in the moonlight
we surrendered to time
the clocks stopped
but time was still moving
in slow, slow, motion

I no longer felt my body
I was drifting weightless
but not entirely empty
a shadow, searching for light
until a half-formed prayer
settled upon my lips
and for mere seconds
the world stopped
I felt myself melting
beneath your gaze
eyes into eyes
truth defeats lies
in matters of the heart
love cannot be denied
© Ann Bagnall