You Were There

Image: Boztay_Akimkhan @pixabay

This, then, was the end.
Those hard marks, 
Crushed into the fibre
Each a breath and a gasp. 
The dog-eared pages 
Of before
Yellowed by the sun
Now turned pristine 
Over time. 
The ink crisp
And knowing.
Like your eyes. 

This, then, was the end. 
No need to press a corner
Or use slivers of 
Other lives to keep
The story suspended. 
They’d be no use now.
A few words left. 
The rough landscape
Of jumbled, yet orderly
Meaning
To be smoothed out. 
Closed off. 

You were there. 
And now you’re gone. 

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