No way back

You cannot go back again

Along the path not taken

To the lost wandering self

That you abandoned in the wilderness

After dusk fell

As darkness obscured

The true path home

And so if echoes of that former self

Haunt you now

Come calling to you from the gloom

Of a mid autumn afternoon

Never the less

Turn to face your soul

And take the hand of that part of you

That has felt so bereft

Ever since that day

You chose to go back

To the place where you were

Never truly seen or met

Surely this arresting vision of yourself

Will bring grief

But just possibly it will be

A sweet relief

To finally acknowledged to yourself

The awful truth of things

And only you know

How strong can be the pull

Of unrecognised ghosts upon your soul

That dogged you from the shadows

And God knows they will not

Set you free

Until you find a way

To honour them

And it is only when those last defences are stripped

That you will heal the inner split

That hides the full truth of it

And find a way

To finally stop

Blaming yourself

For needing what you could never get

And seeking in the wrong place

For the river that was your soul

Really had another way to flow

And you had oceans to navigate

Deep inside of you

Melancholy can all so easily

Tempt you with its haunting lure

To turn your gaze back

Emptying the present of all meaning

Leaving you hollow

Reminding you only of failures

Inadequacies

Paths not taken

That left you stranded here

So seemingly forsaken

But my love

There is no way back now

So draw as close as you can

To the comfort of the silence

Present at dusk

And remember

But do not make the mistake

Of dismembering hope

And laying dream to ash

For now there really is

No way back

And so you must

Choose at last to travel foward

Along the road

That leads you home