One Step Behind Poem by David Welch

It was a rainy night out on the moors
on roan-backed steeds we met,
lost my breath to your steely eyes
and hair so glistening wet,
but now it's all come to a head,
the postures and the lines,
yet you'll still walk with quiet grace
and me one step behind.

For many years you called me friend,
and came to me to weep,
you never did once have to fear
for somewhere warm to sleep,
but now it's all come crashing down
in silence and in sighs,
yet you still stride with smiling face,
and me one step behind.

So many times I'd comfort you,
hold you in my bed,
let you brace yourself on me,
then watch you leave with them,
but not my patience has run out
and loss will fade with time,
as will the walks in meadowed vales
with me one step behind.

It's hard to wish you heartbreak,
or loneliness when old,
it's me that shall not smile,
it's I that has grown cold,
but the price of unrequittance,
of letting you inside,
makes my boot splash in the mud,
one step to the side…