Halfway

I tried so hard
But halfway through
I stopped pushing
And you didn't start pulling.

I was left with burning hands
Trying to hold onto a bare rope.
It's stopped moving, left in between
Where it was and where
It should have been.

Before I started, I thought
That maybe I could see change.
But it must have been just an obstacle.
A shadow in the way of the sunlight.
And you don't know who it belongs to.
Too many seem to have drifted past,
And now narrowing down is out of your range.

I was left with a burning heart.
But I had to bury it.
Though impossible to move apart,
As I feared all sense in you would depart,
And that you'd fly into your darkened art.

I was left with burning eyes.
Tried to unsee what was too clear for me to forget;
Past what I thought was genuine regret.
I thought it was worth something, our
Slight exchange.

I was left with a burning mouth.
Nothing seemed to ever last.
My words seemed lingering in the past.
And when I tried, tried, and tried again
My doubt in myself
It became so vast.

That I was left with an empty book.
Every page I wrote seemed transitory.
Lost in my blank glory,
I still attempted to fill in
What at first were gaps.
An incomplete reminder: memento mori
But now they have become
Most of this story.