this cloak of tattered
wishes stitched and gathered
by weary fingers you
placed upon my shoulders
allowed me passage
through dreary nights
storm-ravaged
days
safe, though not entirely
unattacked
i climbed crawled dragged limped
just as you said
i could though i didn't
believe
over stony sharp crags
barren slopes
through treeless forests
where all the owls stood
earthbound
past clinging vines wet
and heavy with unfulfilled
dreams
into icy winds that rent flesh
from my sodden bones
into and upon waters so
deep and dark and roiled
not a human eye could see what
hells their depths succored
until at last
with the weight of never-ending night
the cloak
and i
reached forth and fell
limp
into your embrace