Paved over deep,
  my thoughts below

Once brilliant shades
  of amber glow

The darkest light,
  I now befriend

Whose darkest thoughts,
  I sought to end

While further down,
  the chanting starts

No mockingbirds,
  no meadowlarks

Where stillness reigns,
  the present weeps

My ashes cool,
  my soul retreats

Lodged six feet under
  below the crowd

Though sleep eternal
   —no dreams allowed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)