And So I Lingered

In the dappled olive clearing of a wood,

It’s not quite as warm.

But it contains such a hushed beauty.

The sunlight flashes in and out of the beech leaves

I seem to be drawn back again and again.

Unwilling to walk away

Maybe this shall be the last time, but

 

Out of those flickering shadow-lights

Came you.

And I fell -

At least,

I think I did.

How could my memories be swirling in those eyes,

and nestled in the crook of that smile?

The lips move; I think I can hear

But yet again, I don’t believe I did.

Either way, into those golden days I fell,

I tumbled down into a field.

A meadow of the brightest blossoms

Each holding an almost-tangible promise

Of far away adventures that could be, might be.

 

Almost.

In reality, there was nothing there.

The cold earth was pressed against my cheeks.

It felt damp -

Did it rain?

Unwillingly, my eyes open

Eyelashes catching on the moist soil,

Tangy, sharp and almost there

Was the scent of a golden day.

Where did you go - ?

Or maybe, you never really left.

I can sense you, I can feel,

You’re just beyond my sight.

Almost touchable,

almost

there...

 

And so I lingered
lingered a few minutes longer on the spot,

Straining for a glimpse of a fleeting goodbye.
and upon not hearing the voice, not hearing anything

I went back to the edge of the wood again,

and then started on my way

reluctantly, along the dusty forest tracks

back to the village.

Perhaps, at that moment,
I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what had just
happened until I was
once more,
fairly outside of the forest shadows -

out
in the clear, open daylight, where things seem what they are
and are what they seem.

But I don’t believe it was imagination,

I think you really were there,
maybe just a memory, but there nonetheless.

I turn back,

And so I lingered.

 

Author's Note

constructive criticism appreciated! :D
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