I Will Never Leave You

“I may be going but I'll never leave you.”

In a world carved out of pain and sorrow

Those were your final words to me

They warmed my heart on many a cold night

When everything was falling apart I stood up

I stood upon those words like a tightrope walker

Balancing myself between life and death

Your voice was always softer than any blanket

I wrapped myself in it like a trembling child

And in the middle of my winter night

There was a song in the darkness:

"All these things we dearly hold

One day, we'll need to let them go

You cry and cry and cry

Yet

The dead don't die

They just live on in your mind."

I took great comfort in that song

When all other songs had failed me

When no mask or armor could hide these scars

And no stars were bright enough to guide me

That is when I heard your sweet voice

More soothing than honeyed tea

You lit up my soul when there was no light

In a dream, in a vision, you told me this:

"I hope the spring taught you;

That life always comes back.

I hope the sun taught you;

That everything will rise again."

I took great comfort in that vision

And finally, I know this:

The scars on your heart

Draw a map of the universe

Use your pain as a compass

To guide you back to what is beautiful

And so

When those curtains fall

Like evening stars

On that stage of your existence

Deep in the theater of dream

Take comfort, my friend, my lover:

“I may be going but I'll never leave you.”