Yes I certainly did know of her deep despair and could sense the end was near

But how exactly does one rush into another’s life and rearrange the furniture?

She had been deprived of all human love for many years

She had imagined what lay beyond so often she had intricate maps of the place

If only we could shelter for a short while the pains of those we seek to reach

But all lights must eventually dim and vanish into the black

How silent nights are in simple repose

As we dance to tunes only we can hope to claim

She longed to resist the final siege, but when it came, she yielded to its charms

God, it took so long to go, so long to finish, so long to enter the contented place

I suppose I changed as she did, suppose I can see glimmers of what lies ahead for us all

For now I long to see another winter, to feel the chill upon my skin

And know once more that I will never make it home

Copyright 2016 by Paul Jamesson. All rights belong to the author and material may not be copied without the author’s express permission.