You

I faced the wall

in the darkness,

beseeching, show me.

But you didn’t.

and I wept.

I looked for you

on the roads

that led to desert

wilderness.

all I found was

wind and dust.

I sought to be

the one

who wielded death,

the atom splitting

furnace dropping

from the sky.

And then I felt

your presence?

I think it was you, wasn’t it?

Did I pass the test? 

So I needn’t pay

attention any more

as the years rolled on.

and on. and on.

Until I needed you

again.

Two words were

sufficient: Dear one,

And there you were.

As you had always been

in all the things

I’d seen or places

I had been. 

The birds, the rivers

the deathbeds, the songs,

the silences, the kisses.