Ripples

Your memory ripples through my mind,

An aftershock of joy now left behind.

The ghost of your smile, a whisper, a line -

These fragments are all I have of you, entwined.

A pillow I clutch in the hours before dawn,

Craving your warmth though you're now gone.

The past loving lingers, soft yet wan,

While the present seems but a pale, hollow yawn.

We lived and loved in a sweet afternoon,

But night fell fast, our end too soon.

The ill-fated stars we wished upon,

Now cold ashes; our future, undone.

In this bittersweet remembrance I roam,

Far from hades, your memories foam -

A sparkling, effervescent chrome

I taste again, though you won't come home.

Through every laugh, each smiling eye,

In all that's poignant, wry or dry,

These echoes of you will never die -

My joy, my ache both multiply.

Our story left untold, unknown,

Except in this heart you called your own.

Here still your familiar fingers are felt,

Your voice at midnight, tenderly dealt.

The poem flows now, freed from the page,

Immortal - a song for each new age.

My love, though severed from your side -

In these echoes of you will abide.