Sundowning

by Dan Smith

No comfort in cold,
Blindly reaching for memories of warmth,
Streaks of light seen through
Eyes too accustomed to darkness
Turned from rays of a distant sun
Into flashes of lightning from the storm
Unseen in night.

Two thousand miles of hope
Obeying phantom projections
On parallel lifelines,
Unexpected
Return from whence you ran;
All good too good to be true.

Hesitation condemned to inaction,
Desperate lungs begging
Next breath for 26 hours,
An already weak body worthless.
Friction ravaging skin,
Floorboards unforgiving,
Opening wounds along vertebrae
No longer aligned.
Mouth stale from silence,
Each word foul with deceit;
Tongue turned stone and then dust,
Tracing chalk outlines of
Old faith in new God.