Wherever You May Walk: Poem

Wherever You May Walk

Wherever you may walk, my heart goes with you.
In acceptance, in silence, in the completion
Of Absence; recognizing the emptiness of this life
When you leave my presence. In knowing that
I need to sense this vital presence as if it is
Water in the dunes; as though it is sun in polar winds.

I will speak of this emotion only if you want to hear.
I will also leave you your freedom if you so desire.
I can control my steps, but my ears strain to hear yours.
I can choose to walk away but even then my soul will
Long, long for your presence.

I hear the nightbirds though my window.
I can hear the silence of a sleepless night
That, with the fingers of dawn, have silenced
My words, desires and whatever lived within me.
I have waited so long; long did I wait for my fate.

Wherever you may walk, my heart goes with you.


Copyright (text and image): Rani Turton

Paths That Lead Somewhere: Poem

Paths That Lead Somewhere

Paths that lead somewhere; do they know where they go?
Do they think of the pebbles and the thorns
That can wound your feet; do they imagine
Or ever ponder that distances are not the reason
You set out alone: that solitude could have made you
Retrace your steps fast enough if you had known.

If you had known that paths that lead you somewhere
But do not guide you along; sing, sing a lonely song;
That paths are just tracks, trails to be followed
And life is still to be walked along.


Copyright: Rani Turton