Memories of you flow
through me
like sand through ageing fingers
moments shared
heart

I saw you there today
toes disconsolately tracing a pattern
in the sand
at the edge of the

Ash and me, we played so many pranks
and got into so much strife
our friends used to joke
that we

Some truths are far too dark
to inflict on warm, gentle hearts
smile then instead
and

Softly spoken
words of pain
keen heartbreak sighs
a lonely refrain
there cannot be
more than

They came together
in conflict
tortoise shell of shields
to guard from the rain
leaks

In the quiet hours his lips curl
as he remembers her
the girl
that was his world
his tombstone

Her heart becomes ever more tortured
as the time of his parting draws near
as weeds around a

She carries flowers for him
this beautiful girl
love in her eyes
sun in her curls
his angel
his

They still talk these two
after all these years
no pointless angry exchanges
bitterness or

Three friends came here
to this bleak and distant place
from kicking up dust
on the disused

Running colours
on the piece
she'll not finish now
the story she was painting
abruptly

The Hessian cilice
she wears
brings her comfort
from the other pain
she carries

Though I must now close my eyes
to hear your laughter
see your smile
and your warm, welcoming

They came en-mass
in the rain
to say their farewells
grief by association
funeral bells
was it

We danced
made love a little
but we knew
things had changed
the goodbye came not from us
but a

I saw you looking up at us
from the street outside
again tonight
as we embraced after dinner
in

He sits here thinking, and waits
mind travelling distant shores
outwardly a prisoner
yet inside

If I had only one day left
I'd want to hear a sunset chorus
small birds singing in the trees
see

A farewell
tearful explanation
pangs of guilt
and worries of disloyalty
perceived injury

Do you falter
when you hear my name
I hear that you do
sympathy
a glass I will not fill for

In the cold, harsh light of day
after the last beat is heard
and the pain has ended for some
a

The love was real for you at least
though not strong enough to keep you here
your hand, held in