In the darling moonlight
And wrapped up in my signature three layers,
I walked from chair to shoes
And from shoes to car
As if it were the most arduous of odysseys.
Following the staggered lines
Solely because of nagging muscle memory,
I drove to the lake,
Where summer bodies
Had left the earth for a moment,
Pulled back down to the dark waters
By only the warmth and promise of life
And the laughter of friends.
In my desperate sorrow I expected to meet the laughter again
Expected the universe to finally say “Alright,
This one’s had enough.
Joke’s over, throw him a bone.”
I expected to meet the beckoning kiss of family
That filled the mid-august air
And sent sparks through the life-giving waters.
At the all-too familiar response
That silence readily gives,
The sadness found me, my guard abandoned,
And drenched my skin.
These words, sparsely read,
And taken only partially to mind,
Are the agents of one desperate call,
Born at the unfriendly moonlit lake:
Let there be eyes that call my life beautiful
When the silence assures that it isn’t to me.
