There is simplicity in peace,

There is simplicity in peace,

Calmness in acceptance,

A strangely alluring quality

To the air

Once it is expelled.

The drift into sleep,

The decent into darkness

Enlightened,

By the embrace

Of the unknown.

A delicate balance,

The weight of fear

Held to account

By the promise

Of another day.

Every time you close your eyes

The world ends,

Without revelation

Or Armageddon to mark

Its passing,

Just the ticking of a clock

That simply fades away.

Staying awake

Night upon night

Only delays the inevitable,

As Morpheus will wait

For ever

To wrap you in his arms.

And when you finally sleep

The weight of

The world will fall

Off your shoulders,

A sodden greatcoat

Wet from the storm,

Warm with the smell

Of your sweat,

You will be cloaked

Anew,

Tomorrow,

Should you be granted

The freedom to shake

The dust of the dead

From your eyes,

And wake,

To the dream

Of a new day.

There is a presence

To absence.

It fills the empty spaces

Pushing out

Squeezing the life

Out of the living.

Constricting the chest

Tightening the throat,

The sphincter.

Stealing the air,

Holding it to ransom.

Refusing to part with it

For less than its worth.

As empty shells

Gasp for release.

Like beached whales

Air drying,

Crying their own

Sad song

The weight of their bodies

Crushing the life

Right out.

As they sink into the sand

And where they lead

So their family

Blindly follows.

Numbed by grief and

The innocence of love,

Senseless

Loss multiplies,

In mass.

And absence,

The empty fear of it

Becomes a killer.

Survival an instinct

That can be lost

When the world is torn

And the pieces are

Tossed into the sky,

Blown on the wind,

A cloud of butterflies.

Their beauty found

In the knowledge

Of metamorphosis

And an awakening

Unto the brief sunlit

Journey of life.

Where do they go

After their flight

Is done..

Rarely do I see

The fresh soil

Of their graveyard.

And I am never to mourn

Their absence,

As I mourn yours.