Watching Her Go

He left first
And yet he could not leave,
His heart lingered behind him
And he waited for it
Alone in the shade of a willow
Where Spring held an aberrant chill
Accentuating the lone
In his pause

An invisible chasm 
Stretched between them,
As if the earth had been torn apart,
And her footfall led her along one edge
While he sat and watched,
Helpless
On the other side,
Longing to reach 
Across the great divide.

Motionless he sat
And watched her disappear. 
Maybe he should have left
When he’d left,
But he needed to see what she saw
When she watched him go,
And now he knew what it felt like
To watch your heart
Walk away
Powerless to get it back

Frost settled in    
As winter crept around him
Defying the warmth
Of the pre-summer sun
And he gathered himself up,
Thrust his hands in his pockets
And, trying to shake the chill,
He left last 



Janet Reid
september 2008





Awarded by Poetic Constellations





Awarded by Poetic Constellations