There’s a lonely place
where you exist
I try to forget you
yet the memories persist
You were once my strength
you anchored my soul
but after everything you said
it all finally took its toll
I remember sinking to my knees
in painful defeat
my perfect image of you
at last shattered complete
I wanted to hold onto the good
but the good wouldn’t stay
and looking back
I’m relieved you went away
© 2024 Michelle Cook
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/tree-field-moon-night-sky-meadow-736884/
A fool can’t see
all he holds so near,
yet others do;
it’s often crystal clear.
So then that special gift,
or treasure at hand,
finds its wings,
but he can’t understand.
And that’s the way
love eventually escapes;
the heart loses hope,
and then it breaks.
There is a way, though,
to hold on to the prize,
but it only happens
if we realize.
© 2024 Michelle Cook
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/flower-rose-petals-plant-bud-6646037/
I had to say goodbye,
not because of what was said
but because of the unsaid.
Your words just never materialized,
and words being as they are,
the lifeblood of my being,
I began to die from the lack of them.
Long ago, I knew your words so intimately,
but then they remained frozen,
resting frigidly on the tip of your tongue.
And even though I trusted you in earnest
with the conviction of a true believer,
you stopped being as you were,
the truth and spirit in you unrecognizable,
just a breath away from mine.
Your silence flooded my body,
and I was drowned by words
that never surfaced.
You felt empty to me
like ashes in somber refrain.
And the wind took you quietly away from me
on a path that never belonged to me.
It was in that moment I realized
we were never meant to be
because real love speaks
from deeply buried places
and never runs out of words.
© 2023 Michelle Cook
Through tides
that pull me away
somehow
you always stay
I’d do anything
to reach that shore
always wanting you
so much more
Instead I drift
as close as I can
weary from time
and it’s distant plan
Why can’t the waves
crash in my favor
and bring me closer
to what I savor
© 2023 Michelle Cook
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/girl-sitting-jetty-docks-boardwalk-1822702/
And then suddenly you were gone
like the rustling of crumpled leaves
fading against the backdrop
of a saturated city
My sails became limp and lifeless
hanging threadbare
against Times Square temptations
leaving me with a melancholy mindset
in the midst of a cosmopolitan dream
Manhattan meanderings
simultaneously stifled
an adventure left orphaned
under clouds full of finality
A meteor shower of emotions
enhancing the dimly lit depression
causing a crater of convictions
to overflow and seep into the crevices
flooding my ever-dispirited heart
© 2023 Michelle Cook
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-woman-rain-night-wet-8020990/
Her Writing Haven 