Say It Isn't So

Please god, say it isn’t so,
or at very best...help me
to forget, but gradually,
for love is precious,
love is rare; let it melt
into air as deliquescent
chords of a cello.

Help me forget, but tenderly –
bid farewell to what we had
and with its ending
create a new beginning...
softly, as is offered up
a prayer to some or other god
we try to believe in.

Forget the jasmine,
he pinned in my hair
one balmy summer’s night
when someone, somewhere,
played violin; a melody
drifting by on the wings
of a zephyr; forget,
but preciously;
the life we shared –
for the sheer hell of it...

Let memories fade
of the mountains
I climbed with him
and fern fronds
we watched unfurling –
the bread we baked,
together – butterfly shadows
we made on a wall
as the dawn came up, soft
as distant thunder.

Please say it isn’t so,
or at the very best,
help me to forget,
but slowly ; not because
my heart has grown cold,
but because he gave me
all he owned – the span
of his one,
allotted moment.