On Writing "A Turn in the Road"

I had no idea when this all began
And I found myself without my man,
Who left me feeling sad, alone
As Cancer claimed him for its own -

That nearly ten years down the track
Full knowing he would not come back
I would launch a tribute all in rhyme
To this dear human being – mine.

This journal of bereavement verse
A kind of therapy at first
Seemed to reach out and touch souls
Whose hearts were scorched by Death's harsh coals.

A searing, burning, crushing pain
Altered me – no more the same;
But transmuted as the years went by
Into a dull ache; I got by.

Now these memories take flight
And all around me burns new light
While many walk where I once strode
And come to «A Turn in the Road».

(c) Poet in the woods 2014