Not Yet

I shall perhaps forget
Your eyes, your hands, your touch;
I may not remember
These times so very much;

I shall perhaps forget
How you listen as I talk,
The way the your head bends
As we take our midnight walk;

I shall perhaps forget
The things you said at my lips,
Of how your breath lingered,
Or the press of your hips;

I shall perhaps forget
All the strange, hopeful dreams
I saw under the moon,
Born of its silver beams;

I shall perhaps forget
The way you made me laugh,
Of how your eyes twinkled
And broke sadness in half;

I shall perhaps forget
All that was said and done;
As time ticks its stern heart,
They’ll all fade one by one.

For I can’t bear what comes,
If I fail to forget.
There must be a letting go;
But it’s not time, not yet, not yet.

To Zoe

My favourite song for you runs through my mind,

Crying is a given now as I pack away your things,

Medicines by the dozen and your toys,

How much pleasure you had running after those sticks,

How you pulled bamboos twice your size to bring to me,

Every corner of my home reminds me of you,

I wish you would have lived longer in them without pain.

I cannot forget you, Zoe. You are my heart

And it breaks without you.

Crying and breaking is all I can do.

You would stay with me all the time if you could,

If I left the room you would get up and follow,

I taught and you stayed under the table there,

I was on the comp and you would sit and stare,

You wanted to sleep with us but the bed was small,

The floor got too slippery for you to stand,

I had to let you go I understand;

But now you left behind all this agony,

I can’t stop thinking of you, my love,

You made my day, my night, my noon,

Without God I can’t even hope to see you soon.

I wish dogs get a few of my life’s years

They are the ones who lick away tears.

Regretfully

So this is how death in love begins:
You stop saying small good mornings,
Berate those insignificant sins,
You once thought of as delightful things.

You take away what I am now used to,
For those are deeds you forget to do;
But I remember these parts of you,
For they were what made your heart feel true.

I am more difficult than I know;
But that is what you already knew;
Now you see what you chose to ignore;
Difficulty seems like something new.

I don’t believe you love me no more.
I do not think any less of you.
But you seem like others gone before,
Past lessons all seem truer than true.

Love is often such that finds those
Who pursued you claiming forever
Forgetting the vows they made in throes,
When your own love starts to endeavor.

Maybe the condescension of time
Is meant to be, is meant to be,
And all feeling is meant to decline,
Regretfully, regretfully.