A Man Vanished

gatherings lost in known things—
men, women, children,
by time or willful wish,
split into pieces.

eyes filled with glistening sadness,
pouring pearls, turning edges round—
lips wearing forever-frown.

an echo of sighs and woes,
wrinkled skin like a crumpled rug,
torn and battered from blows of time.

scarred hands and a face carrying dead eyes—
visible to visible and blind to blind.
shivering hands let everything pass,
empty when came and empty when left.

limping limbs and bowed backs;
carrying a burden and carrying on
feet of sores, scalped by walk,
crossing unknown from known.

stages of life cry in cycles;
cradle to dust and dust to grave,
abandoning hope of abandoned love,
going to sleep in a closing cave.

in dust, in water or fire
suffering was only what lay awaiting.

a man, a heart, a love — vanished.
herds of sheep kept grazing,
sitting motionless in a dusty cavern,
unable to draw a single stare.

soul’s worth, love’s worth, life’s worth:
a null world decaying inside out.

(This Poem appeared in the November 2020 print issue of the Mountain Ink.)

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