Your pipe’s been keeping me company.
The one that fell out of your pocket.
A long churchwarden, with a sleek, curved stem,
It fills me with warmth again.

Sleep does not come to me tonight,
Its gentle kiss is as far away as yours.

Lock myself away
So I can down the bottle,
The brown liquid
Touches my tongue
And leaves an aftertaste,
A burning,

That can only be described

As you.

I’d beg you to stay,
But I’m a few years too late
And the more I think,
The more I realize
I will never have the courage
Or the strength
To stand next to you
And say ‘I do’.

I don’t know what to do
But sleep the day away,
For nights are spent drinking
Wishing, Hoping, Thinking, Feeling,

Burning.

The darkness creeps
Over the land,
And many succumb,
Fall to their knees
Worship the darkness,
Out of fear, or lust, or greed.

The darkness creeps
Over my heart
And I don’t know
If I have the strength
To fend it off
Forever.

Tell me what it’s like
Living with the stars above
While I drown
In the oceans below.

I pretend that you’ll care
When I bleed out on the page
But the truth is you weren’t there.
I am but a cage.