Footsteps

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You came into my life …very briefly…

Yet the footsteps you left in my heart won’t fade.

They will stay forever; etched into my very existence.

As a stick draws lines in the beach sands,

So too, have you left marks on my very soul.

And, no matter how many waves of sorrow crash upon them,

No matter how many oceans of saline tears,

They shan’t be lost as lines in the sand.

No rain of tears, nor storm of fury…

Not the razor-laced winds of anger…

Nothing shall wash away at the lines

You made as your footsteps traveled,

Embedding you forever in my heart…

Many have traversed my heart,

And stayed far longer than you.

But, in time the thieving waves

Have eroded the paths they wandered.

Only you, in your brief respite,

So wholly unexpected,

Have left a permanent mark,

Burning your existence into my soul

And leaving marks that will not wash away

With merely wind or water.

Seasons shall pass and time will flow,

The Hands of Life counting

As the Clock of Ages ticks down.

And I know, that no matter how long,

You will always be a part of me.

For although you came into my life

…very briefly…

And left… very abruptly…

Staying no more than a passing season,

I can never forget you.

The path you forged ran deeper,

Held stronger, than any before.

You, and your trek across my heart,

Left me wholly changed.

Because for the first time,

There came a person,

So unexpected,

Who wandered into my life,

Completely uninvited,

And who I’ve never respected more…

Seasons shall come to pass,

And you’ll be gone within the year;

So that now, you won’t even be

An everyday occurrence in my life.

You were in my life; then another existence,

Merely coexisting with my being.

Now, you’re not even going to be that.

Time will force us apart,

Tearing us in opposite directions

And ripping me at the seams of my being,

Because you’re going one way, and I the other.

And you’ll never again cross the path into my life

And pass the threshold into my heart.

Even now, though you’re still here,

A part of the world we both share,

The winds have carried me so far;

And I fear that even if I yell,

You will never know how I felt

About you since the day you took the turn

And walked unexpectedly into my life,

Leaving your footsteps all over my heart.

“I… love you… I’ll miss you…”

I could say those words, most certainly.

But, they’d never reach your ears...

My voice would carry on the winds,

Always a step behind you as you walk away.

You will never know, life has ascertained.

You were meant to be a part of my life

No longer than …very briefly…

And, even then, only once in time.

There can be no tomorrows

When there wasn’t even a today.

All that remains is a yesterday

That’s left me wishing it were more.

Yet, I know that it’s not meant to be,

Which is why you had to leave your mark

Once and for all, in the brief time you were here.

And, that’s how I know your footsteps won’t ever fade

As all the other memories have before.

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L. Kantenseter