Authored: May 3, 2022

I thought I saw you through the shattered window
Under an opaque sky of tears
The rain that fell burned
And somewhere in that acidic soil were the remains of us
Souls walked down deserted pavements
Trapped in their mortal memories.

I thought I saw you in your winter dress
Under the remnants of blue sky
I turned and you were nowhere to be seen
An optical illusion
I tried to touch a rock and my hand fell through.

I was no more real than those around me
The old man beside me whispered something I could not hear
I thought I saw you ahead of me
Standing under burnt dead branches of the oak tree.

Suddenly I could see a rise toward this tree
That came to an edge, and I saw the world beyond
So many souls trapped in purgatory
Trying to find peace in a churning world.

I came to you, and you vanished, a mirage
Once we dreamt large
Once we dreamt of colonisation
Once we dreamt of love
Of peace
Of life.

Now we are here, in this purgatory
Yearning for physical touch
Under the pulses of a world that has moved on
I thought I saw you
A flicker
A movement
An ascension.