Reasoning With Shadows

I have waited many years
Hoping for word
From you.

Every day and every night
Empty skies
Starred at me.

And still I waited.

I consulted with myself:
You were angry
Hurt
You despaired.

I tried to imagine
You happy.
I wanted to think
You were well and whole.

Why reason with shadows?

I pushed down the memories
Shoving them into
Dark corners.

But they returned
Like a swelling tide.

Images of you haunted me
Chased me from room
To room
You were there
On the roadside
There
In the shops
Everywhere I was
You were, too.

But you were always mute.

Uncommunicative in word
And cold in action.
I waited for a bottle to wash ashore
With a note enclosed
A star to streak the night sky
A yellowed letter
Arriving impossibly late
Something to tell me
You remembered.

Until word comes
I wear sorrow
Like a coat
Eat sadness
Like bread
My drink is bitter
And my skies are bronze
All for the want of you.