Life Challenges

People Tell Their Stories:
Potpourri
When Life Doesn't Easily Fit into Categories

eclipse

for janis by Cheryl Latif

friend of mine
you've long walked beside me
unfettered and free
bringing calm to my chaos
peace to my battles
harmony to my song
and reprieve
until
in a shard of a moment i turned
to find you
teetering over a sheer cliff
hovering on a precipice
between heaven
and earth

in horror i watched your footing loosen
the sky opened up
ready to take you
its silent seductive promise made you turn
my words beseeched you
please don't go not yet not now

i reached for you
but the distance was too far

the sky molted darkened lightened
darkened once more
and i waited

a helpless witness, i kept you in my sight
knowing you were at once
lost and directed

tears blurred my vision
my breath caught in fear
the echo of my heart pounded in my ears
and i lived 20 years of laughter and tears

while life demanded its daily due
i railed at god
you cannot take her
not yet
not now
and i waited

in the early morning hours of silent solitude
you danced between heaven and earth
visited by angels of
those who came before you and
those you have not known

perhaps one of them whispered destiny in your ear
perhaps you heard the calling of my heart
i know only that you re-emerged
and reached for me once more

stepping back into our parallel lives
we move more gingerly for the right
the sun is here (the shadows too)
and we rejoice in the timeless mystery of the soul
two friends
thankful for new days
two friends
mindful of the past
two friends
side by side
slightly silhouetted by a fading eclipse

Cheryl Latif became seduced by words at an early age. She's been in love ever since. Her work has appeared in "Between Sheets," "Limestone Circle," and "[sic] vice & verse;" on the Web at poets4peace, and in the Map of Austin Poetry, a weekly Web-based newsletter. She also had the surprising honor of her poems placing first and third in the 1998 SPAWN poetry contest. A collection of her poetry, "transformations," was published earlier this year. Cheryl is the host of Poetic Brew, a weekly poetry reading that is home to some of the finest poetry heard in San Diego from local poets as well as poets from across the country. http://www.latifpoet.com

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