Footsteps

I have sat here long remembering
Until the dark of night
Slides inward through the windows
And stole the last of light.

At the edge of the sea of memory
I have witnessed the tidal flow.
And heard the familiar murmurs
of a wave from long ago.

Sometimes in darkness I awaken.
By soft footsteps by my door
And I look and see your shadow
As it cast upon the floor.

I know it to be only a shadow.
For that soft and loving tread
Sought at an age that’s far to early.
The stairway of the dead.

So like a tune that’s half forgotten
that my hearts memory had kept.
I recall the sweetness of the sound
Of your soft and gentle step.

At the time when the last sunlight
Just mingles with the night.
Its darkness slowly falling
Shutting out the light