There was a summer…mmm, a handful of days,
then one northeastern evening…
(sorry, our history becomes a bit of a haze…
were all those memories misleading?)
I wanted to borrow & hold & treasure
through several handfuls of always forever
but the past told me, “Best leave it be”
So here I am ruminating
Messing about with a handful of words instead
(of the simplest primitive kind sometimes)
maybe it all was just in my head
memories of a love imagined
connection ne’er before fathomed
echoes of soul-deep passion…
Could it have been a mere passing?

did I mention how I dread
bearing through seasons ahead
the empty spaces still?
I’d wished for a caring hand
and one to watch birds at the windowsill
pecking the moments to fill
Greying days with smiles and silences—Peaceful
now I’m not sure who would sit with me…
’cause no-one fits that wish you see
it’s quite a unique place
this heart-hole empty space
that the past of you once graced…
now it’s just called “The Missing”
christened with a handful of wishing
painted over with a handful of words
I’ll bring flowers tomorrow

Do I live only in the past tense of your mind
(memory of a friend, not to be forgotten;
beloved picture set upon a shelf
to dust once a month)?

YOU live in MY mind as memories never left behind
and desires for you NOW are of the kind
that etch themselves on every canvas they might find—
skin, heart, soul & mind…
Yes! Past & present, wish to alight
as hopes and dreams of future flight

My Love, every tense you are to me!
Yet, stagnant in your past tense I must be?

Now, helpless & sorrowful I mourn
Such immense a pity: I, a history, forlorn