There have been longer nights;
Restless hours, reels of pictures
Playing back our hours together;
On a loop, with no ending.

There have been unbidden thoughts;
You entering from the wings;
Me, like a funnyman startled
By a heckle or misjudged audience.

There have been warmer days;
When your eyes burned bright
And seemed to light up my way;
Your laugh setting fire to my heart.

There have been colder days;
As when we walked on grass;
You in borrowed warmth;
Repaying me, the proud lender.

There have been racking doubts
And moments of essential fear;
A jet dropping from the sky;
A hapless ship of fools.

There have been longer nights
But I really can’t remember when;
Since you left, the dark conspires
But the solstice brings your light.