drifts

no more destinies where i haven't gone
lying with hearts unloved and sworn
like written dreams we burned for warmth.
and no more needing to be born
back in the home i used to know--
in bed with oil painted eyes
disagreeing on staying closed.
no more war for weakness waged;
the humbled guard now sings his pain
like children huddling in the rain,
who fiercely kiss before they're taken.
no more miles that roll and sway
like the ocean's wild waves,
wind flicking foam from gliding tips
and speeding from the lives she saves.
she draws black tears across her face
and whispers notes the current left.
her simple measures become the thoughts
that guide us to our thinning breath.
smoke rises like a beaten champion,
ducking straights to start awake.
it braves the shade behind bursting bulbs,
and follows blindly its mother's traces.