“Ghosts of Love’s Past”

My new poem, “Ghosts of Love’s Past,” made my head hurt in the process of writing it and finding the right words and expressions to lament a love that was strong and eternal and now is lost and defeated. It took me about two weeks to write its final form.

This poem is about losses, downfalls, and defeats, and it does not look forward to future hope/s nor does it anticipate eschatological optimism. Therefore, you must buckle up your seatbelt and move on.

I would like to dedicate this poem to those who are (still) lamenting the ghosts of a past love. Yet I would like to encourage you to be strong and to reinvent yourself for better. Iin the words of the track and field sprinter champion Sha’ Carri Richardson, “[You are Not] I’m Not Back. [You are] I’m Better.”

“Ghosts of Love’s Past”

I dreamed that night when our love was lost.
A love once burning, now begins to wane.
I dreamed that night when you told me I was the reason.
In silhouettes of time, we found our shared journeys incomplete.
The mutual touch that once banished every care,
now left us both feeling lost and broken.

I dreamed of melodies that frustrated the lovers’ hearts.
You sent me blank pages and unfinished sentences to say I’ve lost you,
and dried purple orchids in springtime’s grace made it true.
The love that once bloomed in winter’s delight, now weakens.
Like an autumn seed, it fell among the wildflowers in the graveyard.
As we must no longer stay,
we crossed the river solo.

I won’t write to you anymore.
You don’t need to read my secret thoughts.
You had sworn to curse the memories that once tied our fragile hearts.
I had chosen not to cross your borders.
From body to heart, our souls drifted apart,
falling in the storm shuts down light and joy.
In emptiness, we both drowned, buried our wars, and our defeats.

I took ships and boats to part ways.
The promises you made are now shattered and torn.
Our dreams now lie in dust.
I created new itineraries where the sea does not exist.
I want to forget you like a sailor.
You are done loving me—
To abandon a love now lost in eternal flights.