the long river

i'm batting at some shadows
these mites before my eye
a glimpse comes here and there
not clear although i try

my words are calm and level
i dance carefully away
from the memories that haunt
success: the world at bay

when the sun is at its zenith
i congratulate myself
believing things unspoken
are safely on the shelf

my feeling's dead and buried
rest in peace i tell the past
those words that hung between us
were never meant to last

i casually brush at nothing
that's bothering my cheek
naturally in denial
of those things we do not speak