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Plagued By Memories

I thought the layers of dust had settled
over what used to be the togetherness of 'us,'
and buried were our last tarnished traces.
But today, I found your pictures in an album
and my emotions started playing tricks on me.
Thought I heard echoes of your timbered voice
and even imagined your footsteps in the hall
            and then it stopped...
When I recalled that you'd fallen again, by choice
but this time I continued walking,
leaving behind the memories of 'me and you.'

They'd returned unbidden as they often do
after being hidden away for years.
Your barks of bitter words were spoken in haste.
Each epithet laying waste to what had been love.
Verbal daggers were lethal weapons 
and your voice threw them in brutal battle
            and then it stopped...
Because I'd left, but emotional scars remained.
I thought of them as gravestones, 
each marking the end of 'me and you.'

We've both moved on since those dismal days
but there are times when I still feel you near
like when I hear piano notes in a song
about a love like ours, gone miserably wrong.
It hurt when I tried tearing you from my heart.
For years I tried to drown out the sound
of your laughter, the touch of your hand
            and then it stopped...
My emotions were swaddled in melancholy blue
remembering the music you composed for me...
the unfinished symphony of 'me and you.'

Now, sometimes I wake, and the night is too quiet.
By habit, I reach for you across the bed
then hang my head and bite my lip,
licking the sanguine drop, I've drawn.
The taste of salt is on my fingertips
after wiping away tears I thought were done.
On nights like those I shudder in angst
           and then it stops...
When I remember why I finally walked away
and relive in my mind what you had done
the night you fractured the memory of 'me and you.'

Copyright © Lin Lane | Year Posted 2025

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Susan Ashley Date: 4/25/2025 1:07:00 PM Dear Lin, congratulations for your success in Ink's contest with this emotive and evocative poem. So full of heartache for both past and present. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/25/2025 1:43:00 PM Thank you for your kind thoughts, Susan. Past heartache, but the memories still return... sometimes at the most unusual time.

Ink Empress Date: 4/25/2025 1:29:00 AM Dear Linnersz, sometimes the emotional pain is the most difficult to navigate and only few can break from the shackles of a verbal abuse, as youv stated here verbal daggers etc, amidst the love and attachment and being used to their presence as youv described here, with reaching out sometimes out of being familiarity of their place in your life. Youv expressed here in such a seamless and soulful manner that ensures any reader would feel whats been expressed here in such a heartfelt manner! I hear a resilient and strong voice that chose self love altho plagued by some memories that revisit, when least expected, a poem that flows with pain , nostalgia and more! Congratulations on your win in my contest! Thank you for sharing Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/25/2025 9:15:00 AM If the love was true, there will always be a chain that will deny letting go. Perhaps not in the situation of verbal and/or physical abuse. Resiliency happens in steps, and some of them are too wide to take in a leap. Time doesn't always heal all wounds because scars will always remain as reminders. Thank you for awarding this one a spot on your list, Ink.

Duke Beaufort Date: 4/24/2025 5:36:00 AM Lin, I have had relationships go bad too. I think about those from time to time, and especially after reading a poem like yours. There's no question it's impossible to remove the memories we have. We can only change how we feel about them with time and will. Not an easy thing for people with capacity to love and feel passion. It's apparent you are in that group. There's a certain feeling that can counter this all, but obtaining and keeping it are difficult at best. Intimacy is tough to find. Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/24/2025 11:12:00 AM Thanks, Duke. Sometimes, removing them is not the best decision to make, if possible. Holding on to those special moments of love are memories worth keeping.

Paige Hind Date: 4/21/2025 9:18:00 PM Deep, even with the loss of meaning in your relationship, which you portrayed heartache still beautifully :) Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/22/2025 4:21:00 AM Paige, thank you for recognizing the depth of heartache.

Tom Cunningham Date: 4/20/2025 9:18:00 AM Quite an emotional write Lin, although time moves on those unpleasant memories of the past resurface when you're least expecting them, all it takes is a smell or a song to bring them flooding back. Best of luck in the contest. Tom Login to Reply Lin Lane Date: 4/20/2025 9:24:00 AM I've always valued your sincere comments, Tom and none more than those that touch me personally. Thank you very much. Tom Cunningham Date: 4/20/2025 9:19:00 AM PS, I agree with DD.