Smoke Over Matter

The slow descent of the valley

Drags down a heavy smoke

Breathing grief is a gravity

Making sanity impossible to weigh

As if the show is ending before it starts

Pulling me inexorably to the floor

Forcing peace to release

All my wonderful reminders

Pictures of happy days

Drowning to the bottom

A strange mirror casts

All my yesterdays

In a warped image

As I become inevitably distorted

Crooked aches and pains

Some twisted belief

Strains me within as my eyes

Turn away from the outside

A personal collapse

Pummels me into ashes and dust

The presence of another

Only slows the disintegration

Macabre imitations of forgotten joy

Imitates a faded glow inside

In silent movie horror

A smile disappears

Leaving my mind to occupy

The space of an early grave

Violins play melancholy emotions

In the background of futile attempts

Holding onto my dreams

I swallow chemical answers

Trying to recover by giving up

All those doors that opened rooms

Duplicating a clear blue day

In exchange for insuring

The enemy at the gates

Will not overcome my house

No matter how many times

Lightning strikes and sets me on fire

You will only know in my eyes

How I battle smoke over matter.

Copyright © 2015 Charles Edward York

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