Overwhelmed… Poem by Betty Jo Hilger

In a dark sky,
the unbroken blackness covers all the world
with an envelope of comfort and velvet safety,
hidden from the brightness of the day
where eyes can’t see the trepidation
lingering behind the face of fear

And misery is locked away,
underneath a canopy of grief,
behind illusion, beneath allusion,
beside the fallacy painted on dark wings
imagining what should have been

Dim clouds have drifted in to cover
the shining stars from making their debut
stopping any light from catching purchase
within the trodden ground of shadowed mews

And blinded, shades of insecurity
lay silent, acquiescent, and alone
helpless, hoping for a break in heaven
to lighten ebon shades to those of home

The fantasy of clarity has gone away,
vanished in the vacuum of the night
eclipsing all the peaceful moments’ memory,
evicting recollection of the light

Until the keening prayer of just one voice
has the courage to erect a plea
for heaven’s gate to open one small fragment,
large enough to return sanity
and let love through