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Come Back, Lilli

by Tendai R. Mwanaka


Arise, my darling,
My beautiful Lilli,
And come!

Behold!
The winter is lasting.
“The cold is over and gone.”
Flowers appear on the lea.
The season of singing has come.
Let me sing that love song once more.

Show your face,
Let me hear your voice.
Come, my darling,
My beautiful Lilli,
Arise!

You went away
Without saying goodbye.

A painful morning.
A hurtful morning.
A sorrowful morning,
So many years ago.

Did I hurt you?
Wound you?
Disappoint you?
I wonder!

What did I say?
What did I do?
What did you hear?
That made you walk out.

You left without saying goodbye.
You just went away, Lilli,
Without a goodbye.

You left a deep void in my heart,
Return for the wound to heal.

All of my life
I will never find anyone
To compare with you,
My love,
My Lilli,
My angel.

You are as fair as the moon.
As brighter as the sun.
As majestic as stars in procession.

As sweet as honey, with your delights,
“O love...!”

You helped me when I was down and low.
You helped me through all depressions,
All moods, all moments,
All sorrows, all pains,
All joys, all agonies,
All passions, all desires.

With you, I always want to live.
Without you, life has never been the same.

You, without...
Life would never be the same.

Life is so sad,
Signifying nothing.
A shadow so lone!
How loveless lies this heart full once of love!

Come back, Lilli.
Come, my love,
Come, my darling.

Memories of one day,
One cherished,
One life
Flood me like holy waters of the fountain of love.

When I was so heartbroken,
Discouraged,
Depressed,
From failures in love,
In life,
In myself,
Suffering in the darkest depths of hurt and pain,

Shadows, dark
Frightening, fiery,
Over me surging!

Want of light
To guide me through this dark mine.
I could die from all these
Unending troubles.

“O Mother Venus!”
You took me into your arms.
Like the young Mother embracing her tot.

Warm, quite peaceful Lilli!
Your arms, Lilli!

Softly breathing,
Like the sigh of an angel.
Your heart tingling,
Like bells tolling afar.

Could it be so?
It must be so.
I still feel the tingle in my heart.

Your voice, Lilli,
A faint whisper,
Lovelier, soulful,
Caressing.
You said that you always love me?
That you will always love me, Lilli?
Love me, Lilli!

“So much for love in this mortal sphere.”
Never was there a worry for tomorrow.

A day full of love!
A day full of happiness!
A day full of wonder!
Do you still want me?
Do you still need me?
Why did you leave?
Do you still love me?
Where is the love, Lilli?

Come,
Come, my love,
Come, my darling.

The day you left, the world collapsed.
The basis of my life and soul lapsed.
It touched the cavity of my heart,
Where birds of heaven lived,
A nest of addled eggs.

Everything came crashing down,
With nowhere to go.
A world forgotten,
Godforsaken,
Faith lost!

An endless circle,
In the desert,
So desolate
As a desert plain,
And as level.

A ceaseless painful treading,
Your feet so hurtful,
Sweet agonies.
When I think of you, I want to cry
Tears from this heart,
Tears from this soul,
Tears for my care,
Oh, tears for my love!

Distrust;
A disappointment here.
We’re a failure!

But hope, like an echo, is faint,
Yet it grows.
Like a thought unspelt,
It feeds and shows
As moss grows atop a mountain’s stone,
As cactus defies the sun and sand,
As light with its brightness
Lights up dark nights,
As old give way to new-

I tried it with Cecilia,
With Lana,
With Norma.
Always in their faces
I saw you.
Always in their voices,
I heard you.

Always in their touches,
I felt you.

“O, where is the Woman
who used to carry the light for me?”

Second,
Minute,
Hour,
It’s just a godforsaken pattern.

Day,
Week,
Month,
A journey never reached.

Summer’s rains all through winter’s colds,
And with bloom
Eliding into spring’s greens.

Year after year.
O, no, the years!
Year after year,
The years...
Rolling.

Yet there you are.
Always shining bright.
It seems like yesterday,
That you were here.

“Oh, hearts are victors!”
Shining so bright.

What are you doing?
Where are you
Away from love,
In a land so far?

What are you doing
As I cry for you?
What are you thinking of
As I wait for you?

Bring back the light of your loving,
Bring back all those happy memories.

Do you still remember those happy times?
Do you remember them as I do?

When tomorrow was there
Timeless... always,
When yesterday was tomorrow,
Forever... is today.

Those carefree, loving,
Flying happy days.

Let me be happy,
Just once more, Lilli.

Come, my love,
Come, my darling,
Come back, Lilli!

Come back, Lilli.
Come, my love,
Come, my darling.


Copyright © 2015 by Tendai R. Mwanaka

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