Lit eZine Vol 4 | p-10 | POETRY | Dark Hours

SHORT POEMS

DARK HOURS
by Marianne Tefft

NIGHT LIGHT

Candlelight does not illuminate
Gifts under the Christmas tree
And mouths twisted in recrimination
With the same warm glow
Torch light does not brighten
Paths walked hand in hand
And nights in the tormented forest
With the shared glory of the Perseids
Lamplight does not impart a shine
To the gaze of diners locked in love
And silverware wielded like a sword
Across the linen cloth with the same intensity 
But gaslight will uniformly blanch the face
Of one who waits in vain for a midnight cab
And one who knows too well 
The apology will never come

COME TO ME

I look for you beneath the canopy 
Where the seething ocean meets the sky
The setting Moon does not warm the beach
And there are hours before feeble sunrise
In the sand the salt makes a final stand
A trail of silver spittle clings to the shore
Foaming threads from an exhausted mouth
Yet I walk among regurgitated sponges 
To assemble a story to hold on to 
From the blues and greens of tumbled dreams
And I will walk here in the cool of every dawn
So you will always know where to come to me