Clusters of candy wings
Unfurling tendrils for feelers
They flutter in the delicate
Scent of a summer twilight
Come autumn, taken flight

Sorrow blooms on our cheeks
From time to time
In a cloud of damp surrender
And whilst ever present
Is quickly devoured by a whale
Of necessary denial

Yet let us not think
That life is but a dark night
And rather the brightest day
Of carefree sunshine
Occassionally dimmed
By the bleak, fleeting shadows
Cast by that breath-taking creature
Merciful in its elusive nature

Fear is my mouse
It scritters and scratches
And furtively tap dances
In the black when I'm
Hoping and dreaming in the dark

His friend is a moth of self-doubt
That hides from the day
But flutters and bashes
And flits at my eyelashes
Whenever I turn out the light

Even the innocent tree
Who can't help but sway in the wind
Is guilty of tapping my window
The glass is belief and the branch uncertainty
The panes often shatter and let in the night.

Glancing back,
Anxious to catch a final glimpse
The frost glittering thick
On the pavement

The walk 'home' is haunted now
The patch of lavender
So brightly scented in summer
Withered to grey skeletons

You let me hold your hand again
Raven wings of shining hair
Still soft to my fingers
I can still ward off your tears

But words hang like spectres
Between us
It makes me ache.

Once, I was a tiny room
Filled with merry laughter
Fire blazing in the hearth,
Hot tea scolding joyful lips

Now, I am an echoing cave
Filled with cold and darkness
The way out lies across the water
Shrouded by the blackness

I don't want to cry anymore
But I can't remember how to laugh either
The sun and the rain are gone
And much of the colour has drained away
Leaving a grey canvas that I recognise
But don't want to hang on the wall
Instead I'll hide it away in a cupboard
And carry on, numb.