J Whiting, From Our Hearts We Send Thee

The best of us believed

If we hadn’t stumbled

We’d still have a chance

To pick up the pieces

But just as we’ve seen

The gust came too strong and it blew it away

And we know it’s not coming back

Now we’ve got to behave

Now you’ve got to rely on your own arms to drag you across

(can we forgive ourselves?)

The last straw to break your back

The last shock to break your gaze

The secret to break your legs

How long can we hold it

Above our heads?

How long could you used to?

We’ve all followed someone close to find

A reason to have followed

We’ve all hollowed out the tile floor

To keep safe what we couldn’t bear to lose

Take comfort in what no one else knew

And when you had stood barefoot

You noticed that it had come loose

And i said

It’s been a few days

Since i have seen you

And you said

Sorry but i’ve

Got too much on my mind

It got to be too much

We did our best to help

But our hands stuttered and slipped

And all that we could do

Was say we’re sorry

We hoped things would change

We’ve all spent the last year standing still

Balance and swallow

The lump in your throat

All your loose teeth

We lie awake

To see who’s coming

When we die

The rest of us believed

We would remember exactly how her face

Reflected the moonlight

But as we began to recall the details

The hair was a match, but the eyes, we couldn’t quite get them right

How the lashes were shaped

How they curved to the sky and arced away ashamed

(and the difference it made)

Is it better just to wait

If you’re coming back again?

Will we see it then?