Embracing nothing

did you ever know desolation
knowing that there is nothing
but a mind trapped in a loop
the scene playing over and over
no way to turn off its totality
a feeling of vast aching emptiness
a wilderness scream no one hears
no one cares no one ever will

the streets are  full of catatonic people
moving objects in cloistered shells
avoiding each others eye contact
no smile no hint of human recognition
they are a wasteland of flesh and bone
bodies clothed in a death shroud
plaintive expressions of indifference
no one cares no one ever will

the thought occurs you are alone
you are the only thinking human left
you feel the species quickened demise
fear has replaced rational reason
in a moment breath is gone collapsing
there is a panic of emotional suffocation
you now know the burden of loneliness
no one cares no one ever will

©2012, Donald Harbour

A promise kept

A couple, slightly stooped,
is slowly shuffling along
the stone paved park path.

Hand-in-hand, eyes to the
ground, lest they trip.

They have held each others hand,
from the day they first met,
teen years, children, loss,
grandchildren, old age.

There is no loneliness
in their faces, only joy.

A life together, holding hands,
A firm but gentle grasp,
To help when one stumbles.

It has been so through
the springs, summers, autumns,
and now, the chill of winter.

A constant knowledge that there
is that one hold in life,
that will never let go, never tire.

Love is the one single force
that is not taken, only given.
Theirs never forsaken, constant
as the pace of time, always there.

Together, they have become one,
solid as granite beneath their feet,
more enduring than the stars,
theirs a promise kept forever.

They move into the twilight
of evening, hand-in-hand, and then,
the night closes in around them
silently, together, they are gone.

Copyright: 2009, Donald Harbour