The Darkest Light

The sun long-ago burned the flesh from my bones,
exposed with no place to hide.
The drought-cracked dirt fills canyons of hurt
And crows have eaten my eyes.
My heart still attached, full of dust and trash,
longs to connect. It beats on.
If they asked me to tell how I came to know hell,
I fear that I would just lie.

I dismiss my soul, though it won’t let go.
Tenacious it holds hope of
A doctor somewhere in the hot desert air
who would not be sick at the sight
Of a faithless heart and an scavenged mind,
the smell of dried bones and death.
Why not oh my soul relinquish your hold
There is no rescue ahead.

As the wind blows thoughts around in my chest,
Sights and sounds come rushing back
Of love that had won and then lost its way
long before it gave out strength
of a younger man full of life and guile
Who traded it all for whores

I wake up from dreams and see my love close.
My skin intact I'm alive.
Her pretty face shines uncertainly asleep
in the light that steals my life.