’tis strange indeed

that times come when

i am beset

with emptiness

it seems

no words can rightly say

what feelings i feel

within me

as mind and heart

are in turmoil

i seek

silence in an empty room

and find it haunted

with madness —

the madness that besieges me

when i think of you —

just as my being,

though empty

is haunted by

what?

’tis restlessness

that strikes me

o’er again

a relentless surging

of nameless waves

against a silent shore

that with the ebbing

empties itself

from an eternity of

defenseless sands

to an eternity of

turbulent tides

raging.

i find myself

wavering between sand and sea

in futile struggle

to keep dry

and yet

i long to yield

to Neptune’s embrace,

that though i

can no longer scale

the highest peaks in

my quest for peace,

perchance

the Lord of waves

shall suspend me

between sea and sky

and let me be borne

on drenched pillows of

rising clouds

to stars’ abode

where all seems

calm.