All of Them

All the pains mount up
layer upon layer
until they become a
mountain too heavy
to bear

All the pains bleed there
bitter blood that seeps
hand and eye and clothes
invisible but
indelible there

Ail the horrors in the dark
crowd  near, they
suffocate with their
breath
clammy and drear

There is no hand of opal
hand of light
spangled and cool to
haul me up
out of here

So I struggle in my water
choke on despair
death death death
its cousin loss
stand clear

wait and watch
sinister
never care never
wear love it burns
through to the core.

previous poem