Torn Shadows

I am haunted by the things I don’t do,
And the things I lose.
Fingernails tearing at shadows,
An impulse I could never refuse.

We finally understood,
How would could become should.

Reality was in the rocks and the water and you.
Everything else was a Christmas tree decoration.  
A thousand dancing shouting faces,
But your eyes were the only effects that held animation.

Trespassing on forgotten territory,
The singular unique un-love story.

The landscape was bright and icy.
A hillside of trees and a ruined home.
An uninvited guest slinking out of the basement.
A fox posing as a garden gnome.

Once you had a face to die for,
But I can’t even see you anymore.

I’ve twisted you in my mind,
Into surreal and impossible shapes,
Each one more magnificent than the last,
Into wavering and elusive landscapes.