I slept with her sweater
Until her scent was gone
And listened to voice mail
Just to hear her speak.
It was hard letting go
And it was hard to go on
A ghost within myself
Barely breathing
And almost dead.
Life goes on, for some
But, for others it stops cold
Forgotten in the past
Like they never lived at all.
We think it can’t happen
And we pretend
That we’re safe
But somebody somewhere
Is cut in half.
Sudden and unexpected
Like a fatal stab
In the heart
And in the back.
And there you are
Crumpled to the floor
Wallowed in blood
Mute and dumb.
Living long enough
To see them laugh
And mock
The twisted faces of evil
Empty and dead.
I loved her
With all my heart
A bridge long since crossed
And unable to go back.
I leaned on her
Far more than I should have
With everything I was
Or hoped to be.
Left in the lurch
On a Saturday morning
Alone with my thoughts
Of dark desperation.
It hurt
And it hurts me still
Like so many unanswered questions
Only God
Can tell.
I don’t know how
I survived at all
But God picked me up
And plucked me out.
A stranger in a strange land
An invisible man
Unheard
And unremembered.
Wandering the streets
Of a haunted city
Calling out her name
Echoing across
Concrete canyons.
These are the wounds
That only God can heal
In the fullness of time
Miraculous and complete.
Full circle
The future past
At just the right moment
That only God
Can know.
Every wound healed
And ever loss redeemed
Full, overflowing
And Lavishly golden.
He is ahead
And he is behind
Above and below
Fighting for me
And you.
Restored at last
To what we always were
Fully loved
And fully alive.
Darkness defeated
And remembered no more
Full victory
The past, the present
And forever.
