-- A Comforting Solitude --

John Herlihy

No more words to stay in compliance,

Only such emptiness as fills the silence.

No more excuses to justify the means,

Ragged reasons as the stuff of dreams.

No more hopes to fill hearts in desire,

Fading embers and ash in the dying fire.

No more temptation to lead us astray,

Hedges and burnt grass along the way.

No more promises a trust to betoken,

Shattered glass on the ground broken.

No more sorrow to set forth a tear,

Awash in life’s river over many a year.

No more regret of events gone wrong,

Only soft, echoing notes in a fading song.

No more loneliness as one’s only friend,

Just a comforting solitude until the end.

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(c) John Herlihy 19 May 2019