Moon-Grief Utterance #2 (for SP)

By Sean Thomas Dougherty

We shall not all sleep
But we shall all be changed.
It says in the Bible somewhere.
--Frank Stanford

Some insomniac nights as you sleep, I hear a deep sadness
In your breathing, as if you are somewhere alone, cold,
Waiting. Your lips part as if to call out a name,
But you only exhale breath. It's then I lay my ear
Against your chest, & listen for that great sorrow
Entering from the other world.

Reprinted by the poet's permission, copyright © 1993