LOVE/ THOUGHTS/POETRY: AND YOU WERE GONE

And then, just like that, you were gone.

You were gone like the last breath of summer on the wind in late October, the wind that causes goose bumps to rise up on faded forearms when it blows and chills through the thin shirt worn in July that's not yet put away for next year.

You were gone like the solitary brown leaf left dangling on a spindly arm of a bare tree, hanging on to the memory of sunshine and warmth radiating through the air, but finding only cold encroaching through the atmosphere, and being so lonely that it lets go of its hold and swirls down to the ground to join the other leaves that were too once so bright and new.

You were gone like the footprints left in sand on the beach; footprints that were left by children running and laughing and shrieking along the grains and parents chasing after those children and calling them back from going too deep into the powerful and churning water. Footprints left by lovers walking hand in hand and
winding a path of toes and heels through the sand, so beautiful but so very fragile. The waves lapping at the shore eagerly lick up every imprint left by those spending a day in the sunshine, and in a split second, the traces are erased.

You were gone. You were gone when you removed yourself from my life.You are gone.

You are gone but not forgotten by my heart, my mind, my soul. Because though you're gone, I always hope that you will come back. I hope you will come back just like I always hope for the breeze to fill with the heat of the summer and the leaves to grow thick on strong branches of trees and for footprints to be dragged through the sand.

You're gone, but I still hope.