No words tonight to push back

Against the dark lurking close,

Nor books, with their comforting

Runes, to solidify the chaos

Which prowls about the house

Like wolves on the edge of a fire.

I desire affirmation—

A coherence to believe

Beyond the tremors which buck

And warp my life’s lassitude.

Yet, there is nothing beyond

My own shallow thoughts

To assuage the vacuous

Profundity of my days.

(January 10, 2018)