VIII.

I did not know what to say

So I walked down to the lake.

I did not know what to think

So my feet found familiar paths.

The stones they smiled and met me there

And invited me in.

I know,

That as these hours pass

These pleasures cannot last

That dusk will soon be here

To claim this day's spoils.

So I'm left

With tragic insufficiency

Longing for Eden.

With the dream-lights pale,

Flickering above the face of the waters

And the waves beneath rippling

I spied the place a pine had been

Many years before.

Pruned, it had been once

Now ground into oblivion,

dust to paint the soles

And a garden to native things.

From the placid surface rose the moon

Rusty face ebbing.

Her pilfered light displayed for mortal man,

For the erring and the needy.

Spying her dusky domain

Shedding her bulk and color

She ascended into prominence.

I shuffled my feet 

The dry leaves rang impossibly loud

Til my presence seemed incongruous.

Then I surrendered

Becoming less

While aching for more

Until into the shadows I receded.