To A Lost One

Angela Manalang-Gloria

I shall haunt you, O my lost one, as the twilight

Haunts a grieving bamboo trail,

And your dreams will linger strangely with the music

Of a phantom lover’s tale

You shall not forget, for I am past forgetting

I shall come to you again

With the starlight, and the scent of wild champakas,

And the melody of rain.

You shall not forget. Dusk will peer into your

Window, tragic-eyed and still,

And unbidden startle you into remembrance

With its hand upon the sill.