the subway poems: After all

After all

I smiled at the sea, and
the sea smiled at me.
The pain that was
started set me free.

One night
was all I had to hold you
when stars fell and the moon
crept at our feet.

One day was not enough
to last a lifetime
as the night was all
we had to dream.

Memory is the music
that makes
my heart sing, and everything
falls in between
the shadows and the road
that leads me from where
you are.

Let me drown in
your harbour,
let me fall from your eyes
like tears on this window
pain.

And I saw what my life
could have been,
and all it foretold, standing
on Northhampton Road.

Let me fall into your arms
and let me fall from grace
to say this last
goodbye, as I smile at the sea
and the sea
turns from me.

The pain that was started
must be.

Photo: Varanasi, India, as dawn breaks on the Ganges river. 1993