The Black Wolf of Grief

The black wolf

of grief

has come to live

in my heart.

The riverside

is lonely,

the forest trails

too silent

without you

-for so many years-

running along

ahead of me.

Where have you gone?

I keep waiting

to feel

your presence.

There is an

absence

too large

to bear

since you

are gone.

The winterscape

inside my heart

is bleak.

Bare brittle twigs

have formed

a shelter there

to shield

my love for you.

Your sad wise
concerned eyes

look at me

from your photo,

as if you already knew

this day would come,

and were
worried
about me.

What is the secret

that you are trying

to tell me?

How do I

fill such an absence,

when it is a space

that only you
can fill?

Come in a dream

and give to me

your message,

something of you

that I can

hold on to.

This black wolf

of grief

is cold

as the winds of
Siberia.

Her howl,

let loose,

would rattle

the windows

and shiver the eaves.

I walk alone

under bare-branched trees

by a silent river.

How much longer

before

I see you
once more

waiting

up ahead

for me?