After

After
by M.D. Dunn

When we have lost each other
watch for birds doing strange things
a friendly crow or insistent sparrow

The barn swallow goes out to sea
Flying in the old stories 
until the horizon is just water
and with nowhere to land 
rides the drag of a sail back to port

We may find ourselves on different oceans
We may never find ourselves again

But I remember your breath
and the way night gathered
around the clouds you made
and the stars that dimmed their light
to watch you