Shattered Poem by Linda Marie Van Tassell

I dropped the mirror and shattered my dreams.
The stars fell into a river of stone.
The wet grass glistened in fractured moonbeams
in evergreen groves that gathered alone.

The silence anchored in shadow and tear.
Layers of longing flaked off the pine
like breathless words whispered into my ear
or summer breeze blowing clothes on the line.

A sweet ache echoed, unfolded on wing,
summoned my soul with a secret to tell,
and bid me to let my captive heart sing
beyond the gardens of heaven and hell.

A blue mist spilling my senses to steal
shrouded the mountain like a turban twist
or a veil which beckoned with great appeal
on the face of a bride as yet unkissed.

There is space that nothing can ever fill,
a yearning so deeply grafted to bone.
Dead petals may fall and teardrops distill.
I might feel lonely but never alone.

For all of the past, I can say I tried.
The old love letters are gathering dust;
and a poet's nib spills into the tide
as eyes grow dim and are consumed with rust.

Farewell to the shadow that never parts,
to the half-blown promise to never be,
to the flame that burns within tender hearts
whose ashes are scattered in memory.

The whirlwind its whispers will never cease.
A love its sorrows will forever be,
and a sigh will always seek sweet release
and lamentations find comfort at sea.