With matted lashes
and muted cries
she wanders
just outside

With crowded whispers
and voices mean
that in her head
reside

Love seems
a wandering ghost
in a labyrinth
of confusion

Hope
is just a specter
and joy
just an illusion

I've seen her somber smile
that says more
than her words
ever will

I've watched her wandering
all alone
listening to
the Whippoorwill

If the moon
were a mother
with arms to hold

She would wrap
them around
her pent up soul

The merciful stars
would share
their simple light

and she
might then
inherit the night

(August 13th, 2017)