Eclipse

My memory of
the night it ended
is an echo
of a singing moon
by slow degrees
gone into
dark eclipse
and back out
as dew settled
on the grass
where I paced
then hardened
to a full
shining frost.

Chilled
beyond the bone
I finally
let myself
quietly back
into the
silent house
I'd fled
hours earlier
when the
long quiet promise
that made it home
thundered apart
in melting chaos.

I dozed fitful
on a sofa,
long buried
hyper awareness
suddenly familiar
again
in the
reverberating
aftermath,
marking each
settling
floor creak
with only the
fat old cat
to accept me
a last time
as littermate
for warmth
comfort
and the sound of
another heart
beating.

I left
that newmade tomb
again
at dawn
unremarked
placing
the key
on a shelf
knowing it
was no longer mine
too exhausted
after years' labour
to look back
any longer
heard my footfalls crack
against hard silent
asphalt
and as the
cold sun rose
grinning like
a pale skull
on a changed
landscape,
caught
the first
commuter bus
out
.