The air is thin, the night is long;

Let cruel vultures sing their song.

Now. Now is the time for goodbye;

Bury in the grave the tears I cry.

For all that has begun, must die.

These blind eyes see nothing but dark.

These deaf ears have nothing to hark.

This numb body shall feel nothing but dread.

Ever since, the day you fell dead –

The pain resonates, in my heart and head.

I’d beg the heavens: ‘Take me in his stead.’

My voice, with the tears from my eyes, has bled.

Much wailing, much crying; all from me.

My tongue is sore, from crying its plea.

To bring you back, naught can be paid – no price, no fee.

I look through the room, neck stiff as wood.

Eyes empty, beneath my widow’s hood.

I see: glass broken, behind gilded doors;

Blood splattered on marbled floors;

Murder whispers its silent roars.

The slit in my wrist, the knife in my palms,

Kill the music and all that calms!

Bring the weapons and all that harms;

Bring them, rest them in my arms;

Make bloody all of beauty’s charms.

Paint all my sorrow on the walls;

Make every summer, winter; every spring, fall.

All that is white, dye it black.

Lay all roses on the train tracks.

Smite the doves and break their backs.

Sharp as a needle, swift as the wind;

All treasures in you I could find.

Now the moon is split; the sun, ablaze;

Only endless nights and no days;

Nothing left in the world to praise.

The numbness subsides, I feel a kick;

And nausea in my mind to make me sick.

Lips twitching, I rest hands on my abdomen:

A cub sleeps in dead lion’s den;

Within one, of a many, war-torn women.

Sighing – sad and relieved at the same moment,

I have saved your heir, though your death I lament.

In the time of despair, a miracle has been sent.

He will have your eyes, but more your heart.

And he will finish what you did start.

One candle is out, yet another is lit.

I remain and wait, and in darkness, sit.