You Always

for Suzanne

Lilacs fragrant bloom in the yard no more
old stone pillars     chimneys     scattered stones
cannot speak of what is past     though
they hold secrets     imagined

Ebenezer’s to what once was

Dust thou art     and unto dust shalt thou return
is the spoken phrase    but you did not
perish here     no dust is to be found

We long for place but nothing lasts
nothing is forever     but love

Only shadows remain in these broken walls
the places we have been are not us
but we are the places we’ve been

Through it all    your love has been
all that has mattered

I have carried it with me wherever
I have gone     companion in my weakness
my solitude     my exultation and my joy

Standing among these ruins of what once was
I realize I am not here     but here is me
and

only you     always