The Fading Man.


And when we both knew

that farewell was not optional

I finally saw the cracks


A mosaic
painstakingly glued
together over the years

Glaze splitting
tiles tilting into the sea of tears
you hid behind your back
where I could not see them.

You became
a wall fallen
in ancient Babylon
the base relief
still visible beneath dust
and sand
and an empty handed beggars cry

You become
the trail I followed
shards and sanscrit
spread upon the gasping land
each step bringing us closer
to conclusion

We wept
and the sky replied in kind

and it was good.