moonlit shadows (poetry)

Photo by Jeremy Bishop

i walk the forest of living stones.

dead trees talk; they ask the answers

and i respond with the questions.

as if it had always been this way.

in my hands, i hold

the lantern that spouts just darkness—

only in blackness can i see,

i collect the light;

no moon shines above these lands tonight.

if the light came, it would blind me.

steps have no rhythm, i take one

and the next falls away. i used to sway—

once easy prey, i'm caught off guard no longer.

beats only exist in my ears that are no longer.

silence is the only music i hear these days.

the door appears, and i walk toward it,

the floor vanishes beneath me.

falling yet another time. once again,

i bring another to this world.

i could walk this land forever if only i could walk alone.

blood on the dagger, your hands in mine,

intertwined, i remember where you are from;

i remember why i came.

come with me, i want to say. instead i say goodbye.

some things i cannot explain.

it isn't kindness to kill.

we do it anyway.

i do it anyway.

maybe one day this infinity will end.