Phantom

I thought I’d buried you
Interred you in the clay
Of years
The residue of things
Best left undisturbed.

But you live.

Your image shimmers
Before me
In remembrances
Of seasons
Of warm suns
And falling leaves
In November winds.

I have carried you
Across labyrinthine years
To this lonely place
Where I lay you down
Beside me
To remember
The sacred times.

How amazed I am
You still live
Breath matching breath
Your rosy cheeks alive
With the luster of love.

But I know you are a phantom
Of that which was
And will never again be.

This is a good place
And this a rich soil
That could hold you
In its firm embrace.

Follow me no longer.
Stay on this hill.

But I know I will see you
Beyond the road’s curve
At the far horizon.

You live still.