I am the one who never lied,
The true companion at your side,
The words you said the words you lost,
I took them all and paid the cost.
I heard your voice and saw your face,
I touched your heart and found its pace,
The monsters came, some went some stayed,
Some welcomed in and others slayed.
Behind your eyes I am the ghost,
The one who’ll always love you most,
The line cut in your silken palm,
The storm’s cool eye the winter’s calm.
I am the cord you’ll never break,
The dream that’s lost when you will wake,
The faces and the names you knew,
A heavy price to prove you grew.
How easily we all forget,
The things we thought in stone were set,
The numbers on the coloured page,
That count our steps from cage to cage.
The ones who from our sight are lost,
A memory now turned and tossed,
We see them all just one last time,
Relentlessly we climb and climb.
Until we balance on the ledge,
A no-man’s land a broken wedge,
And caught between the past and dreams,
We see the view of older scenes.
And through it all I was so true,
A Grecian mask made just for you,
A thousand smiles a thousand tears,
To wipe away the fallen years.
I was the one who never lied,
The true companion at your side,
And this is real if you could see,
The leaves that fall to you from me.
© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2019
Beautifully penned, Chris, so poignant and profound. You have described very well how it feels when a relationship fails and all that’s left is a series of memories, thoughts and feelings. I like your beautiful imagery, so powerful and emotionally intense. I also like the flow and the rhymes very much. The final image of the falling leaves has great strength and provides a perfect end of the poem and its message. Please correct a little typo on line 32: “To wipe away the the fallen years.”
Thank you for your kind words (and for mentioning the typo! – corrected now!). I am really pleased that you enjoyed this and felt that the emotional intensity came across against a simple rhyme pattern.
Apparent simplicity can contain very deep thoughts like in this piece of yours. Yes, I really enjoyed it.
It’s all a matter of the right balance and pace , isn’t it?
Beautiful, Chris.
This is absolutely true. Thanks, B.
I agree with the other comments here Chris, there’s a beautiful rhythm to this piece and the imagery is so evocative.
Thanks, Mark.
“The monsters came… ”
The nightmares they leave behind, don’t they?
This is a lovely piece.
Thank you for reading, I appreciate your thoughts.
(slowly exhaling)…wow, wonderfully written!
Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts, and am delighted that you enjoyed this.