…I am silent and invisible
In my ebony shrouds of solitude
I am silent and invisible
to the things I left behind
reflectionless and empty
nocturnal and out of sight
I remain unseen
as a raven in the night
I quietly observe
from a distance
Darkness holds me close
solitude is a pendulum
wildly swinging
up and down
and up again
time slips away
night becomes day
where my solitude
changes colour
Drenched in white
I flinch from the light
it plunders my shadows
with its quicksilver
its treachery
renders me bare
and my soul retreats
searching
for the whispers
of silence
A gentle breeze
caresses my skin
I feel my shrouds
pulling me within
waves of solitude
swallow me whole
the pendulum
is still swinging
up and down
and up again
now the bell tolls
© Ann Bagnall
