after you were gone

your presence manacled the soul and it

lingered long on the streets of conscience

caught on desolate fields of loneliness

silence and tears remembered

the beauty you created

your absence was felt on the breast

of memory and soul

it flirted and fluttered its breath

on frightening shores

then death looked us in the face

and our eyes wept for your return

on the mind of all desires

your enchantment remains a lingering shadow

and in every whisper on steep slopes

of hope is an infinity of wonder

and seeing a vapor of memories rising

we cried for your return

now

every lip at Home

from the sound of young ones

to the stab of doubt and throb of feet

prays for the resurrection of our souls

at the village square

steps await with drums your return

to see us walk our chiefly walk again

like gnarled branches entwined in a sleep

of a thousand years