Our Last Walk Together

Mired in the heat of the summer

and the weight of regret I startled awake

It was daylight

and you were waiting at my side

You insisted upon watching me sleep

believing that I wouldn't try to slip away with you there

Your strength has carried me more than once

when my will alone was not enough

Holding my hand, your cheek brushing mine, you whispered

"There's still some life left in this day"

"Let's take a walk"

Reluctant yet fully trusting

I agreed

I had to shield my eyes at first

I had not been out in days

We walked east

the low slung sun at our backs

Our shadows lay stretched out before us

reaching to the edge of the world

The colors of the late evening danced upon the breeze

sparkling and glistening, vibrant and joyous

like children with a new song in their hearts

The transition from tree to ground contained laughter

from horizon to sky a melody

from a lullaby long forgotten

Radiant and transcendent

we glided through the light

We strolled a little further

blissful in our ignorance

of the fragility of time

When in the moment

it hangs in the air

the universe standing still

at the whim of but a single mind

Serenity should not be so easy to lose

given that it is so difficult to reach

I find it so often in your company

so simple it seems to be

in the presence of such grace

All at once the song fell silent

the life drained from the colors

the shadows bled away into the ground

The world had become mute

We turned to look

to find a peculiar sight

a solitary cloud had formed

in our beginning sunset sky

It covered the sun

and silence covered the land

"We should turn back" you said

Again I agreed

Walking into our muted sunset now

I held up my hand to pause

Reluctantly yet fully trusting

you agreed

I gazed around slowly

recognition creeping onto my face

I had been here before

this muted place

I recognized the silence

I recognized the calm

I recognized the balance

There were no shadows

light and dark had become one

I turned to you and spoke

for the first time in many years

"I know this place..."

"I have felt it before"

"The first time I touched your face"

"Our first kiss"

"Our first night under the stars"

"All of those moments we shared where..."

" ...where the world came to rest"

"They happened here... in the silence"

"at the place where darkness and light meld"

"as one in the balance"

Gently, lovingly, gracefully

you smiled

We continued our journey home

content to walk into our future together

whatever that may be

When that cloud gave us a special gift

one last look at the sun

one last look at the colors

one last verse of the song

one last glimpse at our shadows

now falling on our journey passed

one last memory as we walk

hand in hand

together forever

from day into night