…the meaning of hope

Again and again
the kiss of rain
and the salty path
of endless tears
my dearest love
you feel as distant
as the moon
here without you
I have filled myself
with emptiness
and veils of loneliness
wrap themselves
around me

finally I feel the passing
of the dark depths
of the night
and I wonder
what is left now?
shall only our ashes
remain?
for it was a long time ago
yet I still lose myself
in the dark corners
of you

songs of sorrow
dance like pain
and memories cling
to yesterday
still singing
their melodies
to the night
like slow flowing river
spilling over
from a deep
well of shadows

a quiet softness
a beautiful dark silence
almost too lovely to bear
until this moment
it had no meaning
but in this cold night
that is over full
with you
I have let it
mean something
and now emptiness
fills my heart

in the mirror’s depths
love becomes
a fleeting shape
a dream of itself
reaching
to extinguish the light
but in the dawn
of the new day
through the soft lace
of the trees
the shy dappled shadows
quietly dancing
with the blooming flowers
in soft shafts of sunlight

and I stand in silence
in a sudden moment
of peace
as nature’s beauty
comforts me
from its distant canopy
its warmth not quite
reaching me, not yet
but I hear your whispers
calling to me
and I know
that I have now learned
the meaning of hope
© Ann Bagnall