Into the Night
I held a sinner’s tongue
In a throat swollen red from saying your name out loud
I kept a broken clock
So I would never know if time was running out
We gathered all the gold,
But couldn’t tell it from the dirt
You said “This is getting old,”
I said at least it doesn’t hurt
We fight the cold,
The wind reaches out to us
But we explode
And there’s no front that could keep up
And we alight like birds
Before we return
Into the night
You held my shaking hands
With fingers fragile from the things that you had done
You kept a missing link
So the world could never put a chain on us
We tried to chase the moon
You said “Jesus, I am tired.”
I kept a broken watch on you
Does that make me a liar?
I’ll see you soon,
Time chases after us
But we’re too smooth,
Pretty soon it will give up
And we alight like fires
Burning higher
Into the night
We hold the pieces of our broken hearts
In chests we turned the locks of years ago
Said they would never open up again,
But then we met,
And I’m not sure where all the hollow went
And we alight like passengers
Carried to our destinations,
We don’t have to know where we are going
We just have to trail headlights
And together drive
Into the night
from Build Yourself Better and Pen and Paper, Wood and Nails, available in print and digital formats February 29th, 2016.
Faded Pages 