next to me

you sit there
so peaceful
as if your
slumber
could not be
broken

but your eyes are wide,
staring through
the void
which only darkness
can open

in those eyes
i can see the white
of an eternity of light
unblinking and motionless
as the blackness of night

your hands are so still
and your breath is unseen
if i could only catch a breath
of the breath you breathe
or the visions you have seen
i would mark the hour
in both blood and ink
and wait for those eyes
to give me a wink

it was a few days past
since i had seen you last
when you'd went to the garden
to sit in the grass
when i went searching,
you were nowhere to be found
i listened so closely,
but heard not a sound
the forest was quiet
behind our quaint home
and it hurt my faint heart
to think of you all alone
i scoured the woods
for simply a trace
so by grace
and good fortune
i could again see your sweet face

under an old oak,
what should i discover
but the corpse
of my lover
your throat had been slit
and the scar reminded me of a smile,
blood at your lips
and eyes wide with denial

i cradled you in my arms
and carried you home
to sit in that chair
bloodlessly forsaken
and wickedly prone
to stare out into nothing
forever
with eyes so cold
and now i sit next to you
so wretchedly alone