I did not ask After the sun had left For anything Not in the darkness Or the darkest part of the night As the rain fell outside And sirens wailed Somewhere in the streets I did not ask one word In the stillness Within the walls of Concrete and plaster But I lay within listening To the wind dance With autumn raindrops Waiting for sleep to steal in Between one breath and the next The weight of knowing Like pouring honey over A hornets’ nest until no longer Can I stay in place To receive the consequence Or help those Who must bear it I should have asked To be taken Like a leaf newly turned Dropped from the limb Swept up from the ground By the wind then left Plastered by the rain On some other window Waiting to be seen To be discovered in time Then discarded long enough To return to the soil I know well I should have asked To scream my silence Pierce the night Until dawn broke in And let the light reveal As it could I should have But could not Instead in the darkness Waiting Wrapped in blankets against the chill I listen to the rainfall And imagine parts of me Washing away with it Into the deep night Hoping dreams Will take me there ~
