Fellow Traveller

A Poem

Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash

I took my grief for a walk up marble steps,
(Slipping slick beneath my feet,
No purchase),
Along stone balustrades
By deep turquoise seas.
I took it to see history:
To see it in the shade, to see it small,
To see it shrink beneath monoliths,
To cover it in the white dust.

I thought I might watch it shrivel in the heat,
Clasp joy to my heart and beat a retreat.

I thought I might see it sung to sleep
By the echoes of voices long since reaped.

I thought I might stand, the past so much litter at my feet,
And find myself alone, blessedly, blessedly,
Alone.

But, faithful companion, wherever I step,
It stands; wherever I sit, it lies;
And at night, dust yet clinging to my heels,
Crusted to my toes, it stretches beside me,
Long and still and deep.