On Reading Her Diary (Poetry)

If I could step into your world
and live one of your days
as you live one of mine
if I could see the world through your eyes
know your thoughts and break
                                the chains of time
and we could meet in some charmed place
compare our journeys face to face
and learn what makes us different yet
                                                the same

The clocks have made us prisoners
divided us by days and months of years
we diarize our histories
reduce to words our loves, our hopes and fears
I read between each careful line
where sloping ink can’t quite define
the beating heart of you

Blood has linked us, paper trails its clue
and something of your spirit filters through
these pages you once touched
and even as I strive to write
some record of my own small life
I wait my turn to whisper through my dust