Each Drop (Part Two)

I have lived, years without you now;
Water and wind, move fast, move past;
Everything is mutable here,
Abstract or concrete, nothing lasts.

The monsoon winds are strong
And I remember you wet in rain.
You left – them, long ago;
But here they are wetting everything again.

I’m lying in bed,
Thousands of minutes away,
And remaining here,
Think of the gods who cast me away.

I heard a song, that reminded me
Of the way you turned to look at me,
And I cried a bit – maybe more –
Remembering all we used to be.

Now, my darling, I’m not afraid.
There is no fear of living or dying;
Because it’s just a road, taking me
To the place, where you’ll be lying

In wait, with all the rest who went before
To become the value of this life –
Who will profess how well I lived
And vouch for each drop of love and strife.

That’s what it all comes down to:
This journey traversing me and you:
A meeting, a distance and a gate
And all that’s eventually true.

If not, I have, yet, nothing to fear:
There won’t be a calling back…
I’ll give voice to wind and heart to water,
And fade upon the stars dressed in black.

Drowned

I thought childhood would last forever

But it does so only in memory.

It hit me in hindsight of sex and love,

With thoughts of the death allotted to me.

My childhood friend lost her life today.

She was one I shared innocence with

And a time that had nothing to do

With loss, determination or grit.

I thought then butterflies flew forever.

Animals were never shot down for fun.

I’ve grown up now and seen prejudice kill

And blinded hatred win life’s distance run.

Things are no longer coloured for me.

They’ve all turned a hazy shade of grey.

If only I could bring assurance back,

Or have a modicum of childhood stay.

Familiar Ghosts

I can’t sleep.

Those I lost,

Those I will lose,

Come to me,

For company,

Or to confuse.

My eyes, swollen with sick

And love,

Cannot shut;

And I keep thinking,

If…But…

Visions from the past

Haunt me,

Like drapes in the wind.

I smile to see

Familiar ghosts

Wait,

In some dust;

And I must know

Insomnia and fear

Are ghosts, too.