The Golden Thread

A tensile rope

A cherished bond

Hopeful illusions

For eternal dawn

Strong, steady and secure

A connection intimate

The souls presume

A friendship infinite

The golden thread thickens

Glistening in light

Sturdier with each embrace

No epilogue in sight

Each merry memory

Each bout of laughter

Seals the fractures of wounds

The pain of after

But tender minds shape-shift

Metamorphose to reality

Nothing is indefinite

Except the curse of mortality

Each thread will have

An impending end

A ticking clock

A faraway friend

As they drift apart

The rope weakens, it frays

Unwinds till it's a fine string

Slowly withering away

Precariously bound between two

The golden thread dims

It wilts, it wavers

Snaps on a whim

The clock ticks incessantly

But not forevermore

Rhythmically, relentlessly

Until… it doesn’t anymore

Just a treasure trove of memories

A friendship dead

Fond souvenirs for souls

Bound by slivers of a golden thread

~Jyoti Shah