as long as I'm with you

I could climb mountains that scrape the heavens
as long as I'm with you.
I could surface from hell-fire
as long as I'm with you.
I could beam through a bitter day
as long as I'm with you.
I could tread any current,
chaff any tribulation,
battle any demon,
as long as I'm with you.

But flame tinted leaves flutter down
around a porcelain butterfly urn,
and the battle's half lost.
Crumbling battlements
and withering standards
ebb into the stifling winds.

The Almost Ghost

Note: I was originally never going to publish this, but a change in situation allows me to. Thanks, but no thanks.

I think I saw you that night
when you were supposed to be
across the city
in your hospital bed
when I stood glaring at that spot,
now tidily replaced by clean sheets
without a wrinkle or muss,
where you decided you didn't belong anymore,
battling both my anger
and my guilt of having it.

You did not move;
I swear;
the longer I stared,
the more blurry you appeared
-however infinitesimally-

As the days dragged along,
bringing prospects of recovery
and healing,
your white shadow watched over me;
however powerless it was to help or harm.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, any chance of healing was
violently snatched away
by an unopened pill case
and a very
very
long red scarf.

I watched through drowning eyes
after the world shattered;
your almost ghost
flickered and faded
and now you can be whole
someplace else.

Taiko Drums

For three minutes today
I relinquished control of my heartbeats,
allowing the rhythmic pounding of
wood onto animal hide
to resonate through my whole being,
from rapt eyelash-tips
to tightly furled toes,
lightly knocking me out of breath
with each anticipated beat.