The Tears Came Later

Dark, achy pain
No more smiles - only rain.
Gone is the sound of your boots at night on the kitchen floor.
No longer can I smell the whisper of violet that clung to you.
Gone is your telling me I'm your girl -
I was your shadow under the sun,
Wind tousled our hair as the snow and water moved beneath our feet

Until the storm caught us on opposite shores

You heard the wind only as it whistled under the sill,
You saw the seasons change only through panes,
The man in the looking glass was but a stranger to even you.
I saw the darkened state of your world
Looking outside back through.
I came too late the morning you set sail;
Your moorings had frayed during the storm,
The current pulling you to the great blue.
Misty-eyed at the frayed rope in my hand;
I refused to believe you had left.
I repelled the words of sympathy and held off my tears;
I waited on the dock with your forgotten riggings
For your ship to glide to port.
          The tears came later,
          When I finally understood,
I will find you again only in myself;
Never again in my outward view.