Linger
by Beth Sample

Clouds spread wide above us
and the emptiness in front beckons
like the turning wheel of change.
I remember now, holding onto your hand,
the smell of crushed grass beneath
our bare feet,
The tingling heat of our sunburned faces,
The timeless breathlessness of our bodies
as we sought to outrun the spinning
of the Earth.
And we were together,
a band of tiny soldiers
Who now must separate;
take our weapons and journey
far from each other.

There will be some forgetting
as each travels dusty pathways
And only the heart remembers
how it was to outrun change;
To linger long and softly with one another.

Our feet will carry us away,
hands parting
and souls lurching along behind.
But when the feet tire of the carrying
and the hands of parting
and the soul of lurching
The eyes will look back,
never weary of searching,
And always find silhouettes
and memories
That linger in hearts moving further apart
day by bittersweet day.

I am an 18-year-old aspiring (ex-closet) poet living in the Pacific Northwest with too many books and an orphaned house plant. In my free time I work with horses, yearn for a cat and worship the written word. Eat your heart out, Barbie.