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.
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