In Memory

A broken locket with a half-written name;
          A faded picture in a distorted picture frame.
A cracked vase which once held the most precious roses,
                 A tear-stained letter in memory of long ago proposes.

Eyes closed to a world already seen;
       Even the nose seems to have forgotten how to breathe.
His presence gone, but she swears she sees him there,
                          A half of her while she gazes in the mirror.

A calendar left five months behind;
       A check on the table, dated but not signed,
A leaf which blew in to find shelter from a storm;
                 A sanctuary but no longer a home.

Heart faintly beating beneath the drum of water;
            Scars of the past are not so easily slaughtered.
Daunting words which seem to still echo in each room,
                       She swears he will return someday soon.

A candle left burning in the window;
            A swing swaying quietly, attached to the willow,
A weed growing up from the cracks toward the sun,
                  A single song on repeat about finding The One.

Footsteps barely heard against the wood floors,
      Without purpose or destination is stated in the noise.
An aimless wander in a familiar place--
              Hoping to grasp just a reflection of his face.

A bed which has not been slept in for weeks;
               A wrinkle in just one sheet.
A curtain pulled close yet dances in the wind,
         A memory of his voice she prays she'll hear again.


What happens to a love flown South for eternity?
             To a heart which prefers hibernation to beating?
What happens to a love which never existed in reality?
                       To a heart which has always lived in memory?


A poem left unfinished without a word to rhyme;
             An emotion left unstated for it had become a crime.
A book never opened because the title said it all,
                      An ending to a life behind these lifeless walls...