Matin Poem by Matt Mullins

Luminous seconds falling before
the alarm that always becomes

The darkness tumbling to an edge set
between night and the morning

Faults of light rent to shake this jagged
awakening wrung from sweat

Startled sheets of stained sleep twisting
up from a nightmare within a dream

This is not the turned earth owing them
a new beginning, but their bodies

Collision with the blood's commute
toward keeping out the wild reaching in

An open hand's slapped silence
stumbling from bed to knees

Sunlight staving the blinds to singe
the prayers that cannot help:

Everything laid bare by silence torn
from the illusion of rest insisting

Each dawn reveals what is broken.