-- The Certainty of Doubt --

By John Herlihy

The certainty of doubt

Lies in its surety to arrive.

Things known turn in rout,

Doubt left behind to survive.

Where do doubts come from?

How relentless at us they stare.

Why do they seem so certain?

From behind their dark curtain.

From some abyss they arise,

As if unwilling to remain there.

Shining sickle moons that rise,

Invading the night of my prayer.

Lingering shadows to the light,

Always lengthening, thickening.

Intruding with their dark night,

With doubtful hearts quickening.

Doubts born of a place unkind,

How do they live and survive?

Deeply lodged, there in the mind,

In whispers and cries, alive, alive.

Dust motes free floating in air,

Doubts to settle on the ground.

Fleeing from a heart in prayer,

Their cries bereft of all sound.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 30 April 2023