in the space
where forever
took more
than a life –
hello seemed so easy
let go

a memory parsed
into measures of grey
hymns to a page
without word
were one to remember
a moment so sweet
as pulled
from the books
where history made

places to touch
now and then
even so –
like a spot
in the wood
surrendered to sound
– leaves speak a language
their own

knew us somehow
as a face
without name
eyes without cause
to recall
why we came

or silence beheld
in the space
of goodbye –
forever took more
than hello

. . .