The Forlorn Sea

The grasses were the first to arrive Sprouting slowly all around me Hardly more than enough to sway in the hushed wind Steady, steady they rose to shroud him Days became a flooding of months Still he lay where he had fallen Silent, barely moving to breathe Empty inside Like his eyes echoing his heart Beyond despondency he lay The grasses parted to give way to the rise of trees Struggling under the rainless skies to climb ever higher And they did all around him Reaching higher to touch the cloudless skies Still he lay hardly moving Silent as the gentle swept wind Hallowing through the canopy of many leaves That filtered light down across him And no shadow did he cast For he was empty Bereft inside Adrift The years became decades and in turn they to gave way To centuries while he lay still where he had fallen Rains came and went, fell into snows And gone again many times as seasons rose to fall away Giving birth to a pond become lake and finally a sea yawning Endlessly save for his island of trees and grasses But he would not move He would not stir from his place The spot where he had fallen Hollowed like his heart Barely moving to breathe His eyes never closing Never blinking He lay there . . . he lies there still Unstirred by time, nor day, nor night Unmoved by life all around him Alone on his island in the forlorn sea Where the trees sway quietly And the tall grasses shush In the murmuring wind To fall with a hush into night For his heart echoes deeply inside one breath of love