Tonight

Tonight, my heart is silenced…
feeling nothing.
Not memory.
Not pain.
But blank or numb or oblivious
to the world’s wreckage.

Tumbled in dry grass…
ready tender….
for just that spark….
that fire that will
set it first to smolder…

then gentle breeze
breathing into it
a breath that sets
it aglow with fire.

My heart tonight however,
is silenced and waiting.
Small still voice that whispers….
breathe….
live…
be alive….
rise.

Am I alive?
Am I alive?
Am I fulfilled in
the deepest recesses
of my heart?
Is there a longing found?
Some dark deepest desire?
Is there a common ground
where thought and hope
and want and complete can meet?
Is there a whisper in my ear?
A supposed regret?
Does the anger swell and rage?
Does the painful heart forget?
Does forgiveness abound?
Or the fruit of love?
Does sorrow surround
a disquieted heart?
Does my heart feel
anything that is mine?

De'Anna L. West

© August 27, 2006