Since you have gone, my heart, now struck in two,
Has left me with one image in my mind;
A faltering vision, a half of you,
Which I will lose, since time cannot rewind
And bring your essence back to me complete;
The warmth of skin, the sweep of raven hair;
The sum of you will hasten my defeat,
And I am left to wonder if you care.
I didn’t mean to place you in a dream.
For sure, the fault is mine, it’s my mistake,
For consciously, I am to blame it seems:
Once out of sleep, I see you when I wake.
My day-long dreams deny reality.
I know, love’s cost is lover, love is not free.
Howard Benn