Am I to Lose You?

Today’s Lenten poem from Education for Justice is by Louisa Sarah Bevington.

Am I to Lose You?

‘Am I to lose you now?’ The words were light;
You spoke them, hardly seeking a reply,
That day I bid you quietly ‘Good-bye,’
And sought to hide my soul away from sight.
The question echoes, dear, through many a night, —
My question, not your own – most wistfully;
‘Am I to lose him?’ – asked my heart of me;
‘ Am I to lose him now, and lose him quite?’

And only you can tell me. Do you care
That sometimes we in quietness should stand
As fellow-solitudes, hand firm in hand,
And thought with thought and hope with hope compare?
What is your answer? Mine must ever be,
‘I greatly need your friendship: leave it me.’

Source: “Am I to Lose You?” from Poems, Lyrics and Sonnets, by L.S.
Bevington. London: Elliot Stock, 1882.