I looked for You. . .

Füsun Atalay ~ Copyright © 2000

I looked for you
in the autumn-splashed streets
of a rainy, late October in Montreal.

I thought I saw your face
in a store window
on St. Catherine Street- but
when I reached to touch your lips
my finger tips jarred my senses
as they brushed the icy, wet glass-
rain, splashing in aimless streams. . .

I thought I heard you call my name
in the wailing of the wind;
and kept on walking
hoping that I’d find you
around a corner- waiting. . .

I saw us walking

enshrined in the shadow of a couple

huddled close under a chequered umbrella-

their only shield against the rain.

I searched for you all over the town -
knowing you’d not be found.

I called your name
but the emptiness threw it back at me-

“Don’t you see?
You can search for the rest of your life,”
silence wailed. “But, what you had,
what you yearn, what you lived for
will never become reality.!”

I searched for you
among the withered leaves
and streams of unfamiliar faces
flowing toward their dreams-
in the raindrops and snowflakes -
crocuses and daffodils...

I searched for you
everywhere we'd left our memories.

Every corner was mute; every place - senile.
How quickly they all forgot who we were;
and no longer recognise who we are!

Copyrighted Material ~ Copyright © 2000 ~ All Rights belong to Füsun Atalay

(Submitted to Ray Burrell Award for Poetry Competition- 09/2000)