curling smoke
and the dusk surrenders
to the embrace of night
a candle's light
masquerades as my sun
vigilant against the darkness
but with wavering flickers of uncertainty
it adds its own grayness
to the quiet black hours
tallow wraiths that weave
their stolid way about my head
stinging my eyes with their barbed
intangibility
insensitivity
to the passing of the hours
waiting for the dove soft dawn
to bring peace to an
embattled soul