And I became a shadow broken
on the streets of introspection
latching on to
the better hour of days past

the air bitters with each breath
each thought
each moment
that will not be exhaled
as the chest caves
pinning the heart
against each stubborn heartbeat; hiccups
imitating life

and so I cling to the half
where no grave calls me by name
and the heart starts to beat
backward
to take cover

.
  •
            sing to
                   me a  song
                           so melodious...
                               •one of  sweet so-
                                    unding timbre•let it
                                        ••   capture and numb
                                           ••             me senseless•
                                            ••        ­          take me to a
                                             ••                ­       place and
                                             ••              ­             time so
                                              ••                               fami-
                                            ••             ­                    lia-
                                           ••               ­                   r•
     ••
     ••
     ••
where fond       ••                      
memories linger free•fr-                                  
om all worldly constraints•                                    
where our ears can see•the                                      
passing bliss in heaven's                                      
godly paint•                                      
.

I left you without qualm
or hesitation, taking perhaps
the shortest path
through that red door
of doubts and roads
without redemption

I left you
standing in the plain
of shattered moments
walking on the edge of all
the maybes and the whys

but kept you deep in the veins
emptied of any sorrow
and regret, wrapped in
all that makes the
thoughts the single sense

I kept you
as the voice that raises breath
and blood and heart
in the dawn, in the rise and fall
of all our steps
toward each other and away

I kept you without fear
without a scruple, without
regard to rights or wrongs
and in the certainty of each
and every yes inside my head
taking that  never ending walk
without qualm or hesitation

We met by chance
or fate perhaps

-we met-

at a time held in place
a place held in time

-for us-

and we
left nothing
to chance