…in the dark

The moon is adrift on the ocean of night
and my heart keeps time with the slow beat
of the rolling waves of the sea as they ebb and flow
carrying both the sand and me
back and forth into the depths
and onto the empty shore and into the depths
and onto the empty shore, I have been here before
the seductive whispers, persistent and painful
will never set me free, I can’t do this anymore
deep in the mirror now, gasping for air
searching every corner, achingly aware
that I can’t see me anywhere
the moon retreats, a mournful wind blows
and I hear my naked soul screaming in the void
this place of memories burning in the dark
a funeral pyre that time and tears cannot extinguish
has deeply carved its mark
alone in the shadows I whisper your name
a nightingale sings his haunting refrain
and a lonely leaf chases the wind
© Ann Bagnall