Disconnected

When the ties that bind become loose,
tangling through memory and mind,
twisting the heart in knots, which
grow tighter, with every tug, solidify
into place, rigid, refusing to ease
with fingers of love and hope which
try to remove them, return the laces
of caring to careful, gentle, bows
upon the shoes of relationship, which


were worn for so many years, as
familiar, comfortable, loved parts
of who we were together, or what
we meant to each other; polished,
protected, rubbed to a glorious shine,
even as the souls grew worn, and
frayed a little at the edges, patched,
here and there, but remaining secure;

keeping out the damp and cold, that
which would chill us both to the bone
of Self, make teeth chatter behind
our smiles, leave us disconnected -
separate in ways which were never
meant to be; in ways which brought
us dragging feet through the muddy
fields of grief and sodden confusion,
vulnerable to the seasons, but holding
in connection, remembering always

that one day, it will tie again, neatly
into place and we will remember,
that what is joined together can never,
be truly pulled apart, and the gnarled
coils which form themselves can only
do so because the bonds are so strong,
and will tie themselves ever tighter,
into knots of great magnitude, if
they sense a need to hold on against
that which would tear them apart.