Elegy Poem: the dark, by Kit Morton

It is dark where I am and I cannot hope to see you
but sometimes I can hear your words
echoing off the tall walls and stone steps

I grasp at shadows trying to reach you
but you are long gone
disappeared somewhere into the gentle dark

Imagine my surprise when I wrap my hand around the murk
a silken strand of your memory
that slips from my fingers like seaweed

Will you ever come back? I don’t expect an answer,
mostly because I can’t remember what you would say

I’m trying to focus but I’ve forgotten the shape of you
the scars on your calves
the freckles on your nose
the peal of your laughter

Those old ripples of sound are evaporating
leaving a cool, dry space in my brain
I feel them as they slide into the air
and soon I’ll have no memory
of the way you would say my name

You know I can’t speak for myself, in all this dark
weren’t there monsters in my closet
or did you scare them all away?

I’m no good at chasing them out
without your help
and I don’t know how
I will ever get through the dark
without your hand
in mine.