Set In Stone

failing memory that comes with old age.

In my mind I hold memories of you.
Thousands of memories
of you just holding my hand.
So you cannot fathom the number
that I store deep within the catacombs of my mind.

Your features have been carved into stone
on the walls of those deep caverns.
Your laugh still echoes long after you finish.
Words of love lead me through the tunnels.
Words leading me to you.

My hands are molded to fit around yours.
My eyes have been trained to read yours.
I could never forget the thing that I live for.
I could never forgive myself if I ever did.
You will always be what I live for.

That is, of course, an empty promise.
The memories I have are empty spaces.
For you and I will grow old.
And the memories of you
will fade like the sun fades at nightfall.

Stone erodes with the weather,
so my tears shall wash away your face.
Echoes die eventually,
and the sound of your laughter
will be replaced with my sobs.

Words are too small for an old mind to keep.
Just like names, faces, smiles, eyes.
I will forget all I have of you,
and no matter how hard I fight it,
one day you will become a stranger.

The children we gave to each other,
The places we took each other to,
The time we spent making love with our souls;
all wisps of something
I just can't put my finger on.

I will always live for you and love you,
until I can't anymore.
That point must be when
I cower before the stranger
that I once claimed as mine.

I will always remember the way you laughed
the way you smiled, the way you felt.
It will always be in the back of my mind.
For though the words erode away,
the stone they were set in remains.

Author's Note

Do as you wish.