For those who were left before the Quiet
It was late.
I asked you to come in from the rain and into the warm
I could see the soles of your shoes were wet
but you wouldn’t.
Dinner was ready, the fire was lit
my open arms beckoning you in
but you wouldn’t.
Fearing your heart as iron as your will
I watched from the window as you dug a mine in the front yard.
Our flowers ripped from root to crown
all victims of your anger at a world you couldn’t control.
Just give me time.
So I did.
Weeks you stayed submerged
in the darkness alone
with the sole intention of eradicating me.
With time you succeeded
and it was an ending painfully won.
I was still waiting where you had left me
toes folded over the ledge of a front door now rotting on it’s hinges
our garden now a sepulchre
for the world we had created together.
I choose to believe you never heard me call your name
for you never looked back.
I’ll never forget that.
Before reality could strike
news did.
Chyrons warning of a pandemic
and I had no more time to borrow.
I wasn’t ready to welcome a second Quiet.
So, in this new found isolation, I sit by the window
missing the strangers I used to smile at on the street.
I dream of everything but you
finding peace only in the feel of the packed suitcase that rests at my feet.
When the trumpets sound I’ll be off to build a new home.
Until then, I wait, as I did before
but the hope I saved for you takes a different form…
One day
I can see us there
standing in the auction house
our memories going to the highest bidder.
I’ll turn to you and kindly say
it’s ok, my love
you are welcome to them all.
Lovers at a Distance by Leon Scott-Engel