VERSE | AUTUMN SKIES OF BLUE

Do you remember that autumn day
The day you came upon me in the park?
I stood in the shadows of the banyan tree
Preparing for a final flight of the heart
You swept along so light and so true
‘Hello’ you said ‘this October sky is so blue!’

I was taken aback, I was agitated
I stood there awkward, uncertainly
You didn’t walk on, you stood there rooted
Like an interfering angel on a samaritan spree
I didn’t want to hear what you had to say
I wished you’d sprout wings and just fly away

So I looked through you, hoping that you’d go on
But you just ambled around my space
The one I had for hours thought upon
Where I’d finally leave this wretched place
This life, this strife, this gnawing misery
This heart that keened so relentlessly

But you stayed and then you held my hand
All this while I had not said a word to you
You had looked into the depths of my soul
And you knew … my friend, you just knew!
I remember the withered grass you sat with me on
The sun was hidden, but your own light shone

We sat and we sat, you by my side
An angel, a friend, a beautiful stranger
You parried with such elegant ease
My monsters of desperation and danger
Your warmth enveloped my aching heart
That day you pulled me out of my abysmal dark

Now here you lie in a white satin bed
Shrouded in scents of final farewells
I touch your hand, it lies cold and inert
Your eyes are closed, your breath is still
I couldn’t save you dear friend, from final cessations
But then you always were the angel in our equation.
Image: Veronika Vorontsova

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