When Love Is Gone Poem by Cj Heck

I watched in silence
as the elderly woman
tucked a tender missive
under the vase
on a flat headstone.

As our eyes met,
I felt her thoughts.

Wheels of time keep churning,
turning days and months to years
till the days become a lifetime
and still we miss the ones
who are gone.

Like a bucket with a hole
the sands of love sift through,
the cold granite at our feet
belies the warmth yet in our hearts,
while the words etched below,
like dry ice, burn the soul.

After the old woman left,
I felt compelled
to read her words:

'I will always love you.
I hope you like the roses'