How steep the rocky path, how dark,
how often Orpheus must have longed
to look back and reach out his hand;
Finally he turned around, only to see her
become a shadow,
arms outstretched toward him,
floating down, down.
The I Ching says
I must not write or call you;
it says your love for me
must draw you up the path, must
overcome your fears and doubts.
I must not look back,
must not
reach out my hand.
A Life in Poems 
I can feel the longing. Lovely poem.
Thanks, Sabra!
So full of yearning…hearts wanting to connect. Beautiful poem, thank you!
Lorien, thank you for your comment–much appreciated!
This tears at the heart and the mind, the terrible loss and the equally terrible longing..and, Willow, it’s beautiful.
John, thanks so much. I read the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice when I was 8 or 9 and thought it was the saddest story I’d ever heard….