"Flowers for Your Grave"

[Eurydice]

I have no flowers for your grave
No monument, no ceremony
Not even the tears befitting a young widow
But then - ours was a marriage without vows
A bond newly found and forged
And the shock of its sundering
Has numbed me beyond sorrow

To me – you were night’s first star
A break in an unacknowledged darkness
A glimpse of higher things bestowed upon one
Whose eyes had always been downcast – shut
I never knew how alone I was
Until you called to me, smiled at me
And held out your hand for me to grasp

Now – to return to that darkness?
Chained beneath these clouds
Which obscure the stars you made
My bindings slip and unravel
Lofty ideals, perceived responsibility
Orders and promises and coming dusk
They are so much ash as I stare at the unlit sky.

How can I fight for them when I cannot weep for you?

Well – red tears for your grave then.
Blossoms from my heart, my wrist
No king’s tomb has ever known such glorious flowers
Living I gave you nothing but disappointment and death
May this be my last foolish act
Hoping beyond reason that the stars are still there
By your outstretched hand – waiting