as I crept through
under the linden gate
as to awaken
the uneasy dead
my heart beat beat
a beat so fast
you could hear it
in the moonless quiet
blood dripped through my fingers
as I clutched the rose
so hard the stem
took its reward

where was she
the love of my life I said
as she to me
but I let go
now broken as the storm
bruised tree
had spread its arms
upon the grass
to fall
I found her

in a shallow nook
distant from the church
with all its pomp and error
she'd said
a simple stone
read out her name
the few who'd wander here
midst daisies
and dandelion gold

I fell in grief and guilt
that couldn't mend
a heart long broke
my words outpoured
into the silent night
my knees crink cracked
as comfort sought
but no comfort here
she gave

I placed the single
blood-stained rose
upon the granite plinth
in sorry again and again
in ever unmendable grief

I crept back
under the linden low
ashamed
guiltfull
yet unrelieved
until my turn
would surely come

above my head
a raven
watched
and watched
this hollow man
escaping into
dark

05/11/2015