Watchmaker

Memories cobwebbed

Veiled by the cruelty of time

Of you beneath the lychgate

Holding a weathered bouquet

Before I wake to find a quill

And parchment

Compelled to write

Yet another way to say goodbye

By candlelight and witching hour

I picture a watchmaker

Before him

A glistening puzzle

Of countless tiny gears and cogs

Pieced together

Like you could never do

With the pieces of a broken heart

Oh we could talk of the triviality

Of singing songs

With missing lines

That we used to fill with laughter

But these days

My a cappella renditions

Lacking your harmony

Falls only on death’s ears

And while my black-feathered visitor

Sits atop every doorway I might consider an exit

Missing you becomes a habit

Faster than drug or elixir

Might find a way inside

This hollow carcass

Echoing still with your eulogy

So we come again

To the broken hearts and vows

Ever left burning

On the same pyre that died with you

I promise you something

Risking my sincerity

Being crucified

On a cross of my bones

I will live best I can

With my heart still in pieces

On a watchmakers bench

But I swear on the life I'm still mourning

Wherever you are

When I can't feel your breath

I'm never that far behind darling

I'm never that far behind

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© 2022 David Middleham. All Rights Reserved.