After the dust settles...

At the end there is emptiness...

To remind me you were real;

Just a hollow where hurt resides,

After all the layers have been peeled.

A river of salt still stains my cheek,

Residues of stray tears that died;

And with all the memories laid out,

There’s a void that won’t be denied.

Of walls, withered and bare,

Of broken windows with jagged frames,

I stand testimony to what has become

Of a burning love gone up in flames.

And after the dust has settled,

As the foot prints begin to fade,

The body stays, plundered of the soul -

Sleep walking on the edge of the blade.

And at the end there is emptiness...

Just a scar from a heart at war;

Then, there’s calm in this hallowed wreck,

To remind me it was you I fought for.