Tumbling

 The silence was unruffled by the muted ticking of the clock

upon the shelf.

She lay between us like a moody mist which hid the memories of every single kiss.

The years have brought a dreariness which wore away the passion that we felt.

And yet, - of all the losses which we gained, your laughter is the one I really miss.

It’s been such a long, long time since last I saw you smile.

The lack of lustre in your eyes reminds me of the pain we share.

We have not left this dusty dried up world within our own front room in such a while.

The world we used to know outside may long have ceased to be for all we care.


I remember summers, once upon a time, when there was magic

in a sunlit grassy field.

We walked for miles to find a quiet spot where there was no one else around

A tartan shawl laid on the ground became a battlefield where both of us would yield,

And fall into a peaceful interlude, as, cheek to cheek, we lay upon the ground.

But now we sit and stare as if we both have rushed beyond

the veil to share a musty mausoleum

Sometimes I rouse myself from reverie and try to speak, - but don’t know what to say.

The days are just a burden as we sit and wait for sleep and all its promises of dreams.

I wonder if you dream of when we laughed and played and tumbled in the hay.


I see you clearly now through all the years with straw

entangled in your hair.

Your clothes were in a mess and through the creases of your shirt, your passion pressed.

We slipped into the barn and in a stall, we made a nest of cast-off cares.

But when the farmer came we had to run away as maledictions

filled the summer air.

Perhaps we both have lived too long? What use is life bereft

of laughter and of song?

Perhaps we died a long, long time ago when we were struck by grief and everything went wrong?

Perhaps we should have fallen on our bended knees and begged forgiveness for the crime of holding on too long,

To memories of all we had which once had made the love we shared so strong?

We had a miracle and then the miracle we had was torn away.

We had a dream, but then the dream became a nightmare in a
single tragic day.

Our love created life and then that life was torn away.

The god we used to love had punished us for tumbling in the hay.

 Patrick W Kavanagh

16/03/2016

Art by Bill Oliver