Alarmed

Yours was the first face I saw each morning
The last face swimming before my eyes each night
You were with me, day by day
For seven years a faithful companion
Nearly my longest friend
I dreamed of you often while sleeping

Sometimes I hated your voice
Sometime I ignored it, or feared it.
Sometimes, to my shame,
I silenced it with violence
Sometimes I awaited it anxiously,
Knowing the promises it held.
But most of the time I took you for granted
You were part of the routine, the daily grind
One more part of a complex, demanding life.

You were with me each time I moved.
You served me two years in California
Always willing the travel
And helping I needed you.
Sometimes we didn’t communicate well.
You would disturb me in the middle of the night
Or let me slumber through responsibilities

You grew old and feeble with the years,
Sometimes we courageously fought the growing age
We would clean and mend and fix
You would spring back to life
Filling my world with your music
Valiantly refusing to give up
You remember those times?

Your song is broken now.
Scratched and dusty and worn
Your face shows the marks of age,
though not the passing of time.
I bid thee farewell, gone to rest
Though I fully expect I will often
Awake in the darkness of the night
Missing the warm glow of your light.