Love’s Haunting Pursuit

Lost in labyrinthine lanes of midnight's embrace, Where ghostly gas lamps gleam, casting silhouettes of grace, Their luminescence lingers on cobblestone veins, Chattering footsteps echo, bound in heavy chains.   Through wet, winding alleys, cloaked in evening’s dight, Erected edifices enshroud the moon's ethereal light, The air still, holding a chill, sharp and unkind, As whisp’ring murmurs echo, dark secrets confined.   In the grim grip of night, 'neath skies of storm, Haunting laughter lingers, a prophetic pall, ‘till morn, A black rose blooms in the moons’ glimm’rin glare, As Love's beauty burgeons, unfurling despair.   I've tasted the bitterness of love's deceit, The sting of betrayal, in love's sinking retreat, For amidst the splintering of shattered dreams, Love's touch may assuage, or so it seems.   In the depths of the soul, where darkness dwells, Love's icy fingers bind, a chilling knell, Locked in torment, a heart's melancholic cry, Love's weight bears down, a mournful sigh.   Though loss may loom, a specter in sight, I seek solace in memories, ‘neath soothing moonlight, For in love's ledger, there is beauty unbound, Even through loss, its scintillating sentiments are found.   I wander this city’s wet, winding maze, A seeker of love and all her wondrous ways, With passions ablaze, though my heart's tattered and torn, In love’s haunting pursuit, forever forlorn.