Nameless Verse

You left behind little pieces of memory

That you now take away, one shard at a time.

You left behind little pieces of you

That you now remove, one drying leaf at a time.

I have nothing to write. Nothing to offer.

The promises made, to keep you alive

They fade from the mind

Faster than the setting sun sheds its light

I had you closeted in my mind

In special little compartments of love, of tears, of questions untold

I have you safely ensconced in my heart

In a special hearth that warms and glows with your images

Incidents, conversations and your voice used to ring in my mind

But now fade away, slowly but surely

Like the glossy black hair in a graying head

Like the incessant rain pouring down monotony

Like the trees standing so still, so unmoved

Like the haunting silence of the place where we sat

Two crumbling pieces of puzzle, stuck together in awe

Of the snow peaks.

Two pieces of firewood, one hardened and one raw

Both thrown into fires of living, of surviving.

You were the puzzle that didn’t need to fit

Your were the wood that brazenly burnt away.

Did it hurt when you hurtled yourself into that tree?

Did you dream of death as it crept upon you in your sleep?

Tears come often, as do words.

Words shaping themselves out of you,

Words that take me by surprise.

“Darling let’s get some grub” said my brother

The piece of puzzle that held my hand in the unyielding forest.

“Are you okay? OK, bye” said my grandmother

The brazen piece of wood that burnt for me, before me.

Those who die, become more alive in passing away.

Those who die, become photographs and a date in a year.

Those who die, come suddenly, briefly.

Like the sudden gust of wind at night

That cools you, scares you, mystifies you.

Those who die, exist forever.

And yet, continue to drift away, almost dying in continuity.

One shard, one leaf at a time.