when the light sleeps
and all have washed away to rest
i walk along the many streets
which scatter my past affairs
like a drifting spirit
i take the time to see
where each stray has landed
the strays may call this act stalking.
but most don\'t know it even occurs
some of them still speak out against me
screaming into their own personal voids
in a desperate attempt to cope with themselves
others say nothing at all
and most forget
i, however, never forget
and possibly never will
as each rhythmic move leads to a memory
and i\'ve never defied the urge to walk the infinite streets
i peer into the windows that haven\'t frozen over
watching, waiting, wishing, wondering
they all seem so still
as if i were the hands that turned time
when i have finished observing
i tend to flicker
unless, of course, i am in the aura of those i fear
in most cases, i am met with darkness
yet when i need them the least, a stray flickers back
leaving me waiting, wishing, wondering
i keep walking
and return to all that still is
attempting to live my idea of a life
though i will again find myself on evergoing streets
and yet again, i will peer into the aging windows
and when a window becomes enveloped
in ice and lost promises
i find myself wishing, wondering
in such times, i pour my rations away
pushing my heart onto another
when all else fails, i either take to paper or insanity
the latter occurring more often than it should
still, either option lets me forget the burden of emotion
so i only end up wondering
wondering why windows won\'t wave
why windows won\'t warm
why windows weep, why windows warn
why windows
why?
why is a question that is not enough asked.
maybe if someone, a lover or even my mother
would just once ask why
an answer to my own self-detriment would arrive
and i \'d be so preoccupied with such freeing realizations that i would forget to wander the sleeping streets
giving my strays time to disappear
and i would no longer wish
to catch a stray outside a window of my own
thank you for reading this poem. it is an excerpt from my poetry book \"temptations of a splintered heart\" which you can find at votoire.com or on amazon. as an independent author it means the world that you took the time to read this piece and i hope you have a lovely day or night wherever you are.