I tried to read

The greats tonight

Leonard, Angelou,

Poe, Frost…

But it is my own voice

Too loud in my ear

That sets me

Quivering – 

With loss, pain,

With fear remembered

And love…lost…

I tried to smile

Around this ache in my chest, 

but each one

Shattered

Hurting my face.

The clouds are moving 

Too fast tonight

Ghosts against

A black sky…

And the breeze 

Doesn’t invite

Doesn’t caress…

Instead… alienates.

There is a wrongness 

And I feel

Cornered

Not romanced – 

Caged…silenced…

Grief-choked.

No song tonight

On the symphony

Of wind

Notes all soured

By this aching

…this pain…

This ground under

Boot-heel feeling

…abandoned…

Alone in the dark.