Dawn’s patiently eager specter,
Schemes sickly in brightening day,
Cruel with well-honed diversion,
Silently awaiting its prey,
Decomposed jabs of distraction,
Blunt needles plunge slowly and deep,
Masking a stranger’s true nature,
A shadow’s faint outline of sleep,
A fluttering string of confusion,
Bind in contortions of sin,
Twisting in circled indifference,
Preparing for conquest within,
In painfully familiar direction,
With tactics pitifully weak,
The turn of temptation approaches,
The seductress too guilty to speak,
No duty or pity or honor,
Obscure misdirection or doubt,
Predictable rhythmic confusion,
A pathetic attempt at a rout,
Eyes locked in mortal gripped vision,
Transfixed beyond images past,
The black-soul tempest approaches,
Stand firm aside tiller and mast,
Waves beat in graceless harsh meter,
Caulked nerve holds muscle to steel,
Transparent enticement no match,
For unshakeable ken of the real,
Will free of purposeful measure,
With instinct manning the rail,
Lungs thirst for the round to be over,
For the fighting mad core to prevail,
In timeless cacophony’s wisdom,
The test runs its course and subsides,
Sudden end to intensity’s shudder,
Quell urgent desires to die,
The battle won with the knowledge,
That unwinnable war lies ahead,
With ease forget the last hour,
And marvel at life as it’s led,
It’s just a few portions in hours,
Spread even throughout the day,
Not worthy of long term attention,
A bump in the road on the way.