The Penultimate Day Poem by Neil Graham Marsden

Endless cold, sad empty winters have melted out into the wharfe,
since we last shared cigarettes and hopes, by the rhythm of the weir.
Your mood was so serene and strange that day.
You spoke to me in code and I just listened in delight.

I recall how many times you sighed as if you somehow knew,
What precious little time remained for you and I.
Yet even as those tiny grains of sand were falling,
I remained oblivious to the relevance of time.

Then we retraced the steps we both had walked
so many times in earlier, fear filled days.
Only now so many years have passed, I understand,
those special things that made no sense that day.

You said hold tight to our memories and my love,
and that if I listened carefully I would hear your heart,
beating on forever, in perfect time with mine.
I recall how you turned and smiled, embarrassed by a tear.

You blamed the wind to protect my feelings one last time.
As always your words fell like sweet, soft melodies,
Making me feel wanted, truly loved and safe.
Then you turned and walked away from me forever.

I failed to see the Reaper stalking silently in your wake.