Poem: I would weep, if I could

I would weep, if I could
For all the memories lost
Of a future now untold, unpassable
Now that you no longer tread the road
Beside me, in the dark, lonely night.

How sad is it that your presence
Is most greatly felt when you’re gone,
And even the shadows seem more substantial
Than the hand I once felt holding my own?
And the most unrelenting sadness
Comes unbidden to my eyes
Even as they hide the tears I never cried
When I walked by your side
Down that road only you and I dared try.

I will never again have the chance
To tell you how much I love you
Or how much you helped me understand
That life is about more than hopes and dreams
And is, instead, a choice that we make
To stand and face the inchoate demons of doubt
That scream and rail and shout
Even as we write our own chapters with our own hands
And we taste the blood we spill as we bind them to our hearts.

My soul, forevermore, is altered
Without the calm, guiding softness of your smile
And the days that seemed bearable
In spite of the coldness of the nights
Seem no longer as warm, nor bright.
Help me, one last time, through the spirit that still
Inspires in me a yearning for the light,
To face the final steps of my own journey
To the eternal conclusion of my now lonely life.

*Dedicated to my good friend, Tarique, who lost his father this past week.  May his soul rest in peace… always.