Footsteps

The tea half drunk,

The tags ripped off,

The room now empty,

Save me and my memroy.

I shiver despite the heater,

My body confused.

Calm now,

Angry now,

Fearing the future now.

The night will be sleepless,

My mood never fixed.

Take the pictures down quick.

Remove the words you wrote,

Not so long ago.

"I miss you already."

Now new words:

"Goodbye, Charlie."

Oh, why must you use my name?

Why must you say it with those red eyes?

Why must you hold me so long?

And now I hear footsteps on the porch,

And I hope.

I listen for the door,

Anticipate the key I gave you.

I imagine an embrace, 

Imagine words of regret,

Barely heard through sobs.

The footsteps are still now,

I hear the keys shake.

For three moments I wait,

Before the neighbor's door opens,

And the footsteps disappear.

Reviews

[KAOlmsted]

This is beautiful. Sad. Regret is a powerful emotion. Really well done. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

-kimmer

[Chidoriflower]

What beautiful remorse!

[Chaos_Collector]

You've painted the canvas in my head with your words. Excellent work

Chaos_Collector

[Everett DeValle]

Lovely imagery, Charles...and the emotions subtle yet anxious. Wonderful write.

[RachelReaper]

this had an interesting feel to it, somehow different from other styles I've read. You have a unique way of writing this and that's what I liked about it.

[rnuff]

Hey Charles this is really good, you ought to write more poetry.
I enjoyed the imagery in this. Awesome write.

[Richard Man]

What a scene. A small and poignant play. I love the pause that the three moments evoke, seemingly the past, present and future all filled with utter hope only to be dashed.

['poetry by bonnie']

I really enjoyed your writing, it was interesting. Look forward to reading more..