Words you didn't say

What would a child do when abandoned or left behind by a loved one, left with only a few memories echoing in their mind over and over again....

Words you didn’t say

Moments turned into days
Days slipped quietly into years
Years gave you life- flesh and blood.

Hot sun crushing the umber tones of loneliness
Waiting for you to appear
An apparition conjured by an adolescent memory
Only one, no more
Not needed, only wanted.

Conversations haunt that nursery, played out in a single voice
Words one wished to hear
Spoon fed and gobbled up along with the imaginary tea and bread
Eager for more and yet the bowl was forever empty.

How can a memory be so vivid?
Its only existence found in wishes and daydreams
Played out in its entirety
During stolen moments alone in the cool shadows of
A quiet room.

You could never be brave
You could never be so kind
You could never be more proud
Than you are in my minds eye

I made you who you are today
A constant companion
A deity passing by on the winds of the desert sky.

Your only words etched in my mind
For all of eternity- “when I return, we will play”
A brief hug, a gentle kiss…..
….translated and reworded a thousand times
to “I love you, forever

Reviews

[Alexandria Harris]

The imagery in this is so haunting, I love the picture painted of a guardian not there. Some of the rhythm patterns are a bit awkward at the end, like in the fourth stanza when you choose to line break after "during stolen moments alone in the cool shadows of" and then the next line is "a quiet room." to me, the break with that would be cleaner if you ended with "shadows" and then put "of" in the next line. The ending leaves me wanting more for that child.

[Shadow Writer]

I can feel the words you have written. That makes for good poetry. Phantom........