Mortal Night

Mortal Night

by Brian T.  Lynch

Sometimes at night, alone, awake

Entombed in darkness, laid in state

While yet my breath the stillness breaks

Oh fragile heart, my soul awaits

And glories of this mortal veil

Pale in certainty of breath to fail

An event horizon of the flesh

From certain life to certain death

Discerned, not seen with naked eyes

Nor what beyond horizon lies

Yet having sensed the dark abyss

And felt it's silence in the night

I cleave to senses yet undimmed

Now more exquisite in morning light

New breath, new life, this feel of flesh

This splendor passion for beating heart

What privileged state this conscious spark

Today to claim, today to start

(A poem I found among my papers that I wrote 42 years ago, back when I was writing poetry.)