Poem
I Await the Days and Nights

Image by Author — Courtesy of Lorton Prison, VA

How must I prepare against a bare horizon?
How must I react
When the white of their eyes
Unbeknownst to me?
A cavalry invisible
Devouring the weakest in a steadfast journey

I await the days and nights

Locked in the confines of my tent
My epitaph lingers at my tongue
It is coming! I hear others convulse
Yet, I dare not steal a look
For the faintest or the weary may tether my heart
And lure me into their wrath

I await the days and nights

It knows no boundaries
Or illicit any remorse
It ties the hands of the skillful
Their feet in a senseless, maze
The cleverest of minds are forced into prison
While their eyes divulge a new retreat

I await the days and nights

I feel a gnawing claw
Reaching up to my throat
Yet, I must be stealthy
And brace these tranquil tears
Seeping from a poisoned body
I held my ground even if I am rendered thirsty

I await the days and nights

The waters rise in a scurry
Embodied with vitality
Should my heart
Conjure with my head
This unjustifiable torture
Or will the two succumb to death in a perilous defeat?

I await the days and nights