Whole-Like Poem by Stephanie Kendell

My eyes are closed
Only a ghost of light in the infinite dark
Shut tight
For when I close my eyes I am more whole-like
Distracted in the darkness of my minds eye
It gives respite to the wounds invisible
On my heart
On his body
On us
But in the darkness of my mind
He is him
And we are whole-like

We are dressed in rosemary
Cloaked in imagination and escape
Reach out to me
Hold me close in your darkness too
Together in the wilderness of eternity
Please hold on
To what we could be
To us
Whole-like, in a future that still is

Still shut
Still dark
Still healed in the blank space that hallows the self
A heartbeat, a walk, a kiss, a smile
It is all unbroken
Still fragile and afraid
Daring to dream that what was could be
Whole-like, we once were.

Eyes opened to the light that is darker than the dark that was dreamt
Broken again
Yet the visions hold on to the breath that spoke hope into the hurts,
The cracks, the once was, the could have beens
And yet still the light remains in the darkness
A little more whole-like.