Upon the end of night's darkest hours
A sleepy sun boldly climbed above eastern mountain towers
To softly touch those angry angels of white floating overhead
With fiery fingers painted different shades of red
And while I silently slept ever so softly
My mind drifted drowsily, fastly fading in and out of a rude reality
When suddenly, upon the weary wings of a cold morning breeze
Came the sweet sounds of a mournful melody that pierced the serene silence with wondrous ease
Through heavy haze my half-closed eyes still clung to sleep
Grey clouds draped the daylight, dreary, dark, and deep
The clock declared near noon, though morning in my head
I cursed the cruel commotion that cracked apart my bed
With clenched fists I struck the wall, demanding silence stay
"Damn that neighbor, blaring noise so early in the day!"
But the banging only burdened me with sharper sound
A piercing, patient piping that strangely shook the ground
It wasn't laughter, wasn't life from rooms beside my own
But something solemn, sorrowful - a long and lonesome tone
Through cracked blinds I caught the cold, the sky so stark and still
A chill that called me outward, against my weary will
I stumbled to the balcony, the breeze a bitter knife
Below the black-clad mourners marked the ending of a life
Bagpipes bled their broken ballad through the graveyard's grieving air
A requiem reminding me of time I would not share
And I, alive yet angry, wasting daylight's fragile flame
While they would beg one final breath to speak a single name
The bed behind me beckoned, shadows calling me to stay
But the music made me wonder what I'd trade for one more day
Was it me they mourned below, or some stranger in the ground
The way the wailing bagpipes bent the breathing air around
For in that moment, frozen - balanced between grave and sun
I could not tell if I was waking - or if I was the one undone
Erin Michelle Smith
started: 1987 - finished: 2025