Hope drags like a weight

Shadows stand at the gate

–

May I set it all down?

The smile, and the frown

–

May I rest here in the shade?

Let the sound and silence fade

–

Will the ground hold me up?

While I mend my broken cup

–

As my body grows old

My sight blurs slowly

I see through a mist

You start to look like me

The ravages of time

My hearing gives out

If I strain just a little

Your whisper becomes my shout

With the passing of time

My memory starts to fade

But I dwell in making up

Love stories that never made

As my light flickers out

I sit back in silent glee

For I become another you

And you become another me

I had notions abundant

About life and love

About man and this world

About God above

You showed me the way

That led only to me

Find my own answers

What blasphemy

Friends and lovers

No demand No need

We stand together

Each one complete

Let me not be defined

By what happens to me

Neither vain in victory

Nor dejected in defeat

Nothing is inherently good

Or bad… as it may seem

For sorrow defines joy

Where hell and heaven meet

For all the storms

And the rainbows along the way

Let me abide in gratitude

…In quiet stillness… today

I am significant

Said a speck of dirt

Another speck came along

Smiled and sat with it

Witnessed it

….

And made it so

I have looked everywhere

High and low

I have searched all over

And I still don’t know

Where did I slip

When was I remiss

As if the comedy was not enough

Now, there is this

I have lost my God, you see

Somewhere along the way

Go on, laugh at me

I also forgot how to pray

I gaze into the mirror

Long and hard, dare I say

Silence speaks back

Games it won’t play

….

Nothing is lost or forgotten

Redemption is just this…

For now, and forever

It is, what it is

Until I can feel warm again

Let me sit by the fireplace

Until I can find gratitude again

Let bitter tears streak my face

Until I believe in luck again

Can I call this cardinal mine?

As eleven goes past eleven

Will you watch the face of time?

Until I can stand up again

Let me lay here silently

Until my heart meets prayer again

Will you light a candle for me?

With eyes closed

I breathed your essence

Lost in wonder

I held your presence

My prayers forgotten

My rosary looked askance

I held you today

Like you hold your fragrance

If memories were a place

It would surely be the heavens

If life had a name

It would be a handful of lessons

If we were the circus

You would surely be my twin

If love had a fragrance

It would be a handful of jasmine

Despair

To wake up every morning

And dread the darkness

That first thought of loss

A sigh must confess

Hope

That there will come a dawn

When a smile will come fore

The thought of loss

Won’t be the first thought anymore