A Poem a Day (290): Only breath

 

Dedicated to my mother, who passed away in August.

Only breath

 

I watch you fade out,

without words,

without action.

I fail to ask questions.

I fail to hold your hand

before it grows cold.

I watch you fade out,

stunned earth,

in a silence beyond silence.

 

A tranquil space

without any context

or walls;

we exist apart,

there is nothing else.

There is only breath.

I see you out

as you saw me in.

 

I see your face sometimes

half-sleeping, half-there,

and in my half-imagination

you kiss me goodbye,

and I am the child again.

 

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, October 31, 2020