…of unanswered questions

Something always
calls me back
to this desolate place
to this chamber of echoes
the tracings of tears
are all that are seen here
so long my heart
has been empty
leaving me with nothing
but the shades
of ruined loveliness

just shadows
passing through
the slow shifting dust
the many forms of illusions
falling slowly away
as finally I leave
all that I have been
yet even those dark things
I would have again

I long for something
the pictures unpainted
the songs unsung
the mirages
and untamed reflections
distinguishing between
the lies I have lived
and the truths I have told
enfolded in this mist of lace

let me find my way
through perpetually
swinging doors
the constant ache
of unanswered questions
all the dreams
that I’ve been keeping
amidst the dim shadows
and the whispers
of forgotten promises

as mysterious as we were
all the answers
I will have at last
blurry, slow motion
flashbacks
unfolding
layer upon layer
working my way
down familiar walkways
that my heart already knows

and I know
that they will guide me back
carry me through
the endless darkness
across the fields
of yesterday
towards the pathways
of my dreams
© Ann Bagnall