We are less

We are less

More than nothing

But so little

As to be

Of no consequence.

When the weight

Of existence is measured

How much will it be worth

As the balance of sorrows

Is counted

When the lightest of burdens

Wearies the troubled soul.

Where will we go

When so many bones

Ground

In the dust of diamonds

Wait to find a home

And golden angels

Fall on hard times.

Broken feathers

Now lie, strewn

At my feet

Am I to be tested

And found wanting

Strength of purpose

Dissolved so easily

By the application

Of pressure

More accustomed

To a grittier response.

The crumble of life

Began so many years ago

That if there was a sign

It was hung so high

As to be so easily avoided,

The truth of this tardy weakness

Hidden in such abiding

Circumstance

The provision of an alibi

A necessity

For the capitulation

That was its inevitability.

As the cracks

You have left in my story

Drain the truth

From my bones.

I am left

A pillar of salt

Dried to within

An inch of life.

Confined by failure

To recognise

My redeeming

As your release

The final act between us

At such cost as to bring

Me to my knees.

Am I to be

So heartlessly consigned

To sufferance

Or will the strength

Of your good grace

Even in abstention

Help me to walk

Bravely through

The torment

Of such a torrid storm

And lead me

To the comfort of

Your waiting arms.