Who Murdered Our Past? Poem by Wenjun Liu

I stand alone in that palace of ruins
Waiting for your farewell from a time long past.
Your heart that was mine
My hands that never left your side.
They learnt at last to lead their seperate lives.

All the smiles that wavered and failed
All the doubts that teemed and flowed
My hand, your hand,
On that dagger through your heart,
Who pressed it first
Who pushed it hard
Who murdered our shared past?

All promises to be broken
All dreams to abandon
I watched your face collapse and fall
To that empty-eyed skull.
The serpent that swept through your pupils
I thought I knew its shadow
Once upon a time
In the wine to you I offer
In your thirst, my haste
Who murdered our past
On whom did the axe fall?

I chase the phantom through the door
Along the corridor that rises and bends
Past the garden of smoky blue
With blurred edges and blended hues

But then I saw
Then I saw
Pomegranates blooms in her refulgent prime
Quietly under the moon
Memory of a different time.
I long to touch, I yearn to stay,
Shed the weight that shaped my bay.

With sharper lines and warmer hues
Than the turbid darkness that make up my soul
One final betrayal
I yearn to yield.
Free me, I beg
Let tears flow
And never to fall.

But my hands find yours just in time
And your head turns
And I saw
I saw
You recognize no more.

Who murdered our past?
On whom did the axe fall?