^{Who is the third who walks always beside you}

~

is a ghost
always
a pale shadow

can it be
merely
a sensation . . .

a presence . . .

a belief

grief
is like the realization
of starvation

a hunger
and yearning
for what is forever
lost

a companion –
invisible
and
intangible –
capable of placing
a moist sensation
of flipper
against a cheek
suddenly bathed
in rivulets
that are tears

an overflow
from the ocean
of emotion
within

a companion
that is always there
and yet . . .

no more

not ever

the wind
now
is a sad song

a fluting
that once traveled miles
beneath the water

that could be
felt
in the very bones
of a man

music
to surround
the haunting
of a man
who was once
of the sea

~