Original: The Night Passes Like History (2012)

The Night Passes Like History

3:14 gives the only light

In the night of my shuttered bedroom,

A red reminder of the hours left to go.

And though my eyes stagger with heavy-lidded sleep,

I remain awake.

Through the gloom,

I peer up to where I know the ceiling is,

Letting my thoughts meander from me.

I muse on the days I’ve had

And the days to come.

I try to summon the dreams I need

And watch lifetimes Rip van Winkling away

In the space above me.

The days I’ve never had

Or will never know

Stretch out in both directions

As I ponder

My wandering thoughts.

The scenarios play far beyond

Any logical sense of conclusion –

Civilizations rise and fall,

Songs are composed, loved, and forgotten,

And worlds change hands

In that nothing where the ceiling ought to be.

My pupils shrink as I turn from it,

And I’m half blinded by the same 3:14

Glaring at me out of the blank.