Deliver Me

Colorful glass beads
strung on a silver strand.
With each turn of my fingers,
a reflected memory.
My hidden sins confessed
in chanted prayers,
in hushed whispers of apology and regret.
Have mercy,
let not your ears be deaf.
Though your eyes are closed,
and your chest unmoving,
I can still feel your warm breath,
taste your sweet kiss,
drown in your haunting voice.
Do not force yourself into my memory,
into my box of neatly organized keepsakes.
Tighten your hand around my fingers,
return to me my refuge.
Blot out this empty darkness that even
the brilliance of a pen cannot illuminate.
Deliver me from the loss of you.