“I Am The One Who Was…”

A morning gray, a two-day rain, 
A mind wrapped up in here and now,
A half-day passed, a needed a break,
Surprised to find the world now blue
And full of early flowers in bloom
His car took him (it seemed) down to
A place of stones, and flowers, and rest
And words and dates and silences --
A hand upon my shoulder now
With no one there, with no one there.

"I Am The One Who Was" it said,
Or they all said, in different words;
A living presence grown and gone
Now missing in the hearts of those
Who once took shape and came alive
In feeling skin and hearing voice
In ways no others ever could
For what is known and felt is kept
Inside the vault we can't unlock
For someone took the key and left,
For someone took the key

and left

and you were my destiny

last night again dreams 
of diving in blue waters 
came clear and vivid 
and you were my destiny 
my comfort and warm delight 

and the light came through 
and the others moved in concert 
as though with music 
that i could not quite make out 
with my ears not yet ready.

within and nearby

sell these words for scrap, 
give it all away for love. 
these habits we form 
fall away without meaning, 
empty, without connection. 

on the verge of dawn, 
value is as always was -- 
within and nearby, 
distant and unreachable, 
unfathomable, and lost