solitary bird
winging across ashen sky
every nest gone

I scrape the bottom of my heart
for any remaining morsel of your love.
I’ve long forgotten the taste of your kiss.

Since the separation,
the image of you has fragmented
into scattered pixels.
I know now that only the frequent
contacts kept the vision of you intact.

The music of your laughter
has dissipated in the daily noise.
Your greeting voice no longer chimes.

It started with an angry word
that pride elevated into something more.
What a fool I was to react that way.
I’m still haunted by that dreadful day.

A year has passed with silent interaction.
I’ve heard you found someone new.
You do deserve much more of life.
My divorce forever robbed me of my wife.

I love to hold you near
Kiss your throat
Kiss your ear

I can feel your inner self
Can find your impish elf
When we tumble from our daily shelf

We strip away perfunctory grace
I can trace your wondrous face
We reach an enchanting place

In quiet moments of the day
Sometimes, when we’re at play
We anchor in this intimate bay

But it’s really in the night
In the dimming softness of the light
That troubles oft take flight

It’s the greatest of life’s pleasure
It stretches wide our love’s full measure
It’s a place I’ll always treasure

Grab a line and hold on tight,
The ocean’s screaming in the wind.

The salt is stinging my blurring eyes.
My wet body is numbing my bones,

The ship is moaning with the strain.
Its bow is dipping in the waves.

The halyards are whipping against the mast.
Sails are shredding.

But wait, I’m here on the beach.
There is no storm, no ship in sight.

Is this my mind in dreadful turmoil?
Do I fear an impending fate?

Can I secure myself to an inner core?
Can I save myself?

E’er the Side of the Pane Where Raindrops run
Neath Frigid Moon or Searing Sun

Out of Focus in a Crowd
A Null A Void A Nameless Shroud

An Unread Map with no Relief
No Mountains of Joy no Vales of Grief

Spent Items in a Grocery Cart
Hunger Pangs and Aching Heart

Trepidations and Chilling Frights
Nightmares in Perilous Nights

Robotic Sounds of Traffic Whine
Background Noise to Self Decline

A Wine Soaked Erosion of Young Ambition
A Numbing of all Volition

My Sullen Steps in Alleyways
Endless Nights and Endless Days

Will I ever see a HUE in Grey
Will I ever find a YOU in They

In the shallow of my sadness
At the outer edge of madness
I remember you

I see you laughing in the rain
You’re forever singing in my brain
I remember you

Can’t forget the warm texture of your skin
You invade whatever mood I’m in
I remember you

My world capsized when you died
I fled but could not hide
You’re so very deep inside
I remember you

I see you from afar
At a dance or at a fair
Even here in this bar
Could be anywhere

You’re in a different class
We’re vast worlds apart
I drink you in my glass
You’re ever in my heart

You’re the girl I’ll never get
Too pretty and too nice
It’s the longest shot, and yet
Maybe one day you’ll think twice

Oh lunar beauty don’t go
You rarely visit in the day
You’re often gone when I awake
You shine when I’m away

You dance among the stars
While I must dance alone
I seek your reflected wisdom
So we can share heaven’s throne

We’ll rule with blended passion
From cool blue to heated yellow
All on earth will benefit
From despondent lass to hopeful fellow

I’ve loved you from afar
I know our worlds align
Please don’t ignore my plea
We're fated to be divine

Vile, vile proteins corroding her brain
Synapses misfiring, ego down the drain

Heartbreaking to see her disappear
Bit by bit, especially the last year

Traces of her charm still come and go
Changing but dreadfully slow

First it was, “Where is my coat?”
Then, “How do you use the remote?”

Mood swings from laughter to tears
Eroding into halluncinatory fears

Angry transferences from caregiver to caregiver
What was an emotional ocean, now an unchecked river

No longer wakens with the dawn
Where has this lovely lady gone

We all want her back
But slipping through the proverbial crack

Alas, I know the end is near
Perhaps in this very year

She’s becoming paper thin
A mask over empty skin

I miss her and my fading memory of her
Now mere fragments and a diminishing blur