Haunting

I feel you lingering in my shadow,

the wisps of your specter billowing

like smoke in my iris within the mirror

as a cold grazes along my spine

to settle within my hollowed chest.

You always return,

in tandem with the steps I take

somehow always following

close behind.

I hear you echoing in my laughter,

the melody of your voice harmonizing

with my baritone sound

as I remember the joy we shared

before the flames were blown out.

You always write,

in words you have spoken familiar

yet, somehow always change

the tune.

I see you possessing all in my life,

the faces of strangers resembling yours

with the hardships they fall into

as comes a point my feet can no longer run

from the memory of you.

You always appear

in the same vision as in the past

somehow always clinging to

your youth.

I grieve the loss of you,

the woman I once knew and loved

with the naïvety of a teenage girl

as she had once wished to be like you

but was instead left in the grave

beside you.