At midnight on the stone the waves
Turned moonlight black and shadows white
They shifted midst the silent graves
And settled strangely out of sight.

The voices spoke without a sound
And footsteps slowed unfeelingly
In spirals wisps of smoke surround
The listener invisibly.

But there arose upon the stone
A girl who differed in her choice,
Embraced the darkness as her own;
And silence was her voice.

She looked upon my doorstep stone,
But, disinclined to go inside,
She thought she might go on alone.
Assuring her, I said, aside,

“The key is gone, perhaps misplaced -
The residents have gone to sleep;
With fear and anguish interlaced,
Their visages have sunk in deep.

The ground’s unsettled over there,
Some new folks moving in - you see -
The roof will need some strict repair;
I’m sure the occupants agree;

Misfortune plagues the two next-door,
Some evidence of burglary -
The couple was quite discomposed -
But nothing else unburied.

Thus, rest assured, for all is well,
The moonlight darkens o’er the bend
The shadows bend across the swell
And lovely, wayward visions lend
Some sweetness to infirmity.”

Alas, she paused, unsatisfied -
My wisdom must have tasted dry.

“I swear that I have never lied
In fact, please let me testify:

I walk in darkness, like the moon,
There’s nothing wrong about the sky -
It only sometimes makes me swoon -
And wonder why I have to die.”

Not yet, of course, I’m not deadweight;
That Charon shook his fist at me,
Said years or more you’ll have to wait
Before moving to Eternity.

She merely looked and took my hand
And steadied my heart’s murmuring,
Returned my thoughts to holy land,
Looked to the North Star’s nurturing.

The wind snatched up my frosted breath
And wrestled with it in the sky;
A soul towards heaven after death
Its furious motion thus implies.

The darkness blinds and moonlight hides
My silent song on bended knee,
But hope in you will ever reside
In the secret light disclosed to me.