Author: Elizabeth Maynard

Yesterday I had no words
but now they tumble swiftly
as the spring from the rock
waters every budding thing

You can stop talking now
I'm more than done
with every one of these
sad stories you tell

You are my broken heart
mended and made new
ever stronger for it

I made the sign of the cross
over even these
broken beautiful things
and watched them
spring to green life

This great emptiness
welcomes everything
you never knew
could be loved like that

These hennaed hands
hold hope for new days dawning
simple and beautiful as every
swift-darkening line

It has been too long since you took my face
in your warm hands
to kiss me like you wanted to stay

A thousand poems say the same:
I loved you foolishly in ways I regret
I could not see beyond what my need
imagined

I fill the kitchen with familiar
smells of roasting potatoes
and lemon dish soap
inadequate distractions
from the memory
of your face turned
gently from me
to gaze beyond the glass

I created this great emptiness
to stop head and heart spinning
If I could sit still enough
and ease my breath
I thought I could slip through
but now find this space filled
by great silent waves
of longing and regret