Poetry Jul 16, 2026

Chimes at Midnight

By MW Editors

This must happen to

This must happen to anyone who lives

a long time, looking back across the years

and decades to the days when we were young

and the world stretched out before us

like an endless highway or an ocean

we would never reach the other side.

But now we hear the chimes at midnight

as I lie beside you with my mind too full

of our mortality, and my heart breaking

at the memory of the times I failed you,

treated you unkindly, made so many

selfish choices that I can’t undo.

My life’s companion, truest friend,

it’s no cliché to say that you deserved

far better than you got while I got

more than I deserved. You’ll disagree,

but that’s because I really did

get more than I ever deserved.

And though I still can’t make myself believe,

I think I finally understand why

people want to think there really is

a heaven. As our lives draw ever closer

to their end, I can’t avoid my sadness

at the thought of all eternity without you.