FOOLS ON A GRAY AUTUMN DAY

Fools On A Gray Autumn Day


Standing here in the silence of a gray, lackluster day
We briefly glance into somber eyes, then turn and look away
You clear your throat and smooth your coat
Your body blocks the sun
I wait to hear your footsteps retreat; I expect to hear them run
But they don't walk and you don't talk
No words spill from your mouth
But heartbeats break the silent roar
That the heart cannot pour out.

Your big hand reaches for my small
That's buried in my pocket
And with the other I undo the clasp
On the sterling silver locket
That holds the picture of the love we shared until today
I put it in your empty hand and still I do not say
Unsaid words that serve no purpose; for they cannot change a thing
And the unshed tears bring no release but blind us by their sting.

Goodbye, it is a joke and lie, it expresses no sincere thought
For what is good about the bye? Just another moment bought
An autumn leaf falls on your shoulder from an almost barren tree
And I think the bright red leaf is you and the barren tree is me
We watch a V formation of snow geese on the wing
Flying through the skies above to find another Spring.

One last throat clearing, one last hand clasp
Your lips meet mine once more and last
The saddest smile I've ever seen touches your eyes with tearbright gleam
Hands pull apart, eternity ends
Eyes close on memories of there and then
We walk in different directions now and don't look back, somehow, somehow.

The tears held back, now fall like rain down heartbroken faces that drown in pain
And each, we shout  unsaid words then and hear them stolen by the thieving wind
At the edge of the park, I think I'll turn to see if you're there ( I never learn))
I pray that you're running on swift feet to me but I never turn and I never see
And you walk on toward the ocean of blue
And wonder if I am now running toward you.

Your heart beating fast as the locket you grasp
With it's picture of you and of me
But I'm walking and crying and waiting for you to follow
As the locket is thrown into the sea.

© by Voo
November 19, 2005
3 p.m.