A Place Called Paradise

Within us lie the lonely spaces
Stark silences between divide
I'll search in all the places
Where we would often hide

All around I'll seek and find
Within myself I'll deeper look
Make a shrine in heart and mind
The paths we trod, we inly took

With fingers, lovingly I trace
A wordless smile, a sparkling gaze
I remember, barely, on your face
Its full glory, the brightest blaze

For time does wear a mem'ry down
The freshest, helpless but to fade
The best of these I've ever known
Can unmake though once were made

So what have I when all is gone?
When time her sands in us do shift?
What in us remains undone
When the mortal veil within shall lift?

Those longing looks, our sweetest kiss
The old familiar heart-embrace
Our recollect of deepest bliss
All time of love cannot erase

When loving things I can't recall
And love seems far too far to reach
Giver of Love, and All in All
Speak me love, unspeakable speech

The wildest storms, the darkest night
The crush-ed dreams, the sunless skies
The wingless heart without her flight
Shall find in love true paradise

O Paradise, be forever mine!
When life be done upon this earth
Complete in me love's grand design
Make me a soul of eternal worth

This poem was a finalist in the May 2023 poetry contest