Silence

You are

In the distance,

A phantom of a man I once knew,

I can no longer see where you begin or end,

The way mountains and clouds become one,

A blur made of stone and water and wind.

The way a leaf on a stream fades in the moment,

It loses the battle between its desire to lay firm,

And its desire to bend its will to the flow

I bent my will for you,

The way the night sneaks up on the late afternoon sun,

I had only moments to shine,

The way nature rings and chirps and whistles,

Until the moment the dark lays claim and quiet.

You are silent.

But my ears are ringing.