Walking By the Water

The voices whisper,

Flowing along the water

Like the one cool breeze

On a hot summer day.

Searching for a heart

That needs breaking;

A heart aching

Ready for that last little push,

With words of doubt

And distrust.

People strolling

Along the water’s edge;

Young and fit jogging,

Older with more memories

Packed around their middles,

Seemingly impervious

To the dying whispers

Of love’s last gasp.

The raspy voices

From a millennia ago,

Rolling low across the surface

Of the water like a mist.

They tell of betrayal,

Of failures so small

As to be monumental.

Of elemental fissures

In a suit of armor,

Leaving you vulnerable

To attack

From a momentary

Lack of faith.

They laugh with the rolling waves;

That undercurrent

Of discordant sound,

The single seagull

Of impending doom,

On a beautiful summer’s day.

When no matter how bright,

They bring a shadow

That you can only see

Out of the corner of your eye.

They are that gut feeling

You didn’t realize

Was whispered in your ear.

Can’t you feel them

Winding whispy tendrils

Up your body?

That feeling of distrust?

Of dread?

They are relentless;

Tugging at you

Like a needy child,

Taunting you

Until you just want to scream.

But the sun is shining,

And the people you pass

In the park

Seem surreally happy.

As if they are in on this,

Like some sick twisted joke.

Sue