When Birds Sing Sweetly,

When birds sing sweetly , bright notes fall on deaf ears. My sightless sockets no longer watch the setting sun descend in orange splendour behind purple hills. My fleshless limbs reach, suspended in un-returned embrace, and hope sleeps in earth’s damp bed. I once walked in your place, above, treading soft amongst the stones, my mind fixed firmly on the stars; warm wind stroked my face, framed by a pale blue sky. I gave no thought to those below; long chains of lives laid out in rows. I brushed aside insistent whispers, growing louder year on year; Time’s breath at my back, closing in an ever-shortening shadow. I am so close I could call out to you- stretch up to grasp your ankles as you pass; but my soundless cries are impotent as dust on stone scattered by the merest breath of air; all thoughts dissolved in earth, and flesh to grass.