Abeyance

As the candles yawned,
 My world grew darker
 ‘Til barely a detail remained

 Parchment and smoke
 Through distant chimes
 Moths carried by the breeze

 Her finger to my lips,
 I am stilled in an instant –
 I sip, and am numbed
 From here the path winds backwards

 At first I see my entering
 And then steps in reverse

 Descent where I had climbed
 To pass where I had fallen

 Familiar, all is skewed
 And yet I cannot reflect
 Beyond my eyelids, I have died
 Yet I collapse into youth
 Familiar, all is frayed
 And yet I cannot abide
 Beyond my eyelids, I have died

 Days are merging quickly now,
 Into years that spiral from my chest
 They pass but leave no mark

 I swallow forgotten words
 To gain what was lost
 And lose what was gained
 Until neither is real

 Behind my head,
 her hands hold no weight

 I have reached a beginning,
 But somehow I do not stop
 I fall through the first moment
 To find that there is more

 As light cascades
 Through the hole my body has torn
 Already, it is closing