Mist

Slowly a mist descends 
Shrouding 
Cold
Sharp
Wrapping its fingers 
Tightening
Clammy
Hard

I forget to breathe
yet heave

I grope forward 
Blind

A sliver of a sunbeam
The mist lifts

A smile breaks
On cracked lips

A struggle for it
To reach the heart

From the corner of an eye 
A tiny shard
That breaks away
And dissolves

A blanket of cold
A fading echo
settles down
claims its space

And calls me home.

Ships!

And I wait for a vessel to carry me away

Far, far from this madding crowd

Far from the fake smiles, the pretense

The curtsies, the handshakes

The hugs, the kisses in the air…

On to oceans open, transparent

The honest rumble of the waves

The true dialog of the gulls,

The whispering rustling of the sails

The pure sound of whistling wind…

The salt in the breeze on my smiling lips

Mingled with tears of happy release

The days gone by slowly, swiftly receding

Into the fading distance

As this vessel

This vessel of freedom carries me away….

How Long...

How long before

catharsis sets in?

before this dull ache

lulls itself into

a quiet throb?

before thoughts

that rush at me

slow down

into a distant memory?

before the grief

of betrayal genuflects

in the face of 

forgiveness?

How long before

I forget?

How long before

I forgive?

How long before,

once again,

I live?