The night,
Darkest night ever descends upon me.
Vision cloaked, never again to recover.
No reality pokes through.
Day in, day out
No harbinger of joy.

Yet I must survive
Like a child of war or famine
Eating through every sinewed
Scrap thrown my way.
I must stay alive
When hope abandons

Paltry box labeled
My Life.

Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville, Virginia
August 1, 2018