After You Were Gone

after you were gone
your presence manacled my soul and lingered
long on the streets of my conscience

caught on desolate fields of loneliness
silence and tears remembered
the beauty you created

your absence was felt on the breast
of my memory and the air I breathed
jammed at its doorways
and death looked me in the face
and my eyes wept for your return

in the hearth of desires
your enchantment remained a lingering shadow
in every whisper on steep slopes of hope and I cried

now
every lip prays for the resurrection of our souls
and at the village square
steps wait to see us walk our chiefly walk again