Neutral Ether

A beautiful face
bursting with confidence
makes age
look distinguished

droopy lids
bags under eyes
unerasable lines
signs of changing weather

the winter sun
poor ghost of itself
hung milky and wan
behind layers of cloud

she once dreamt of 
seeing her name
etched in the skyline
or even 
a floating balloon

she sees darkness hanging
above the huddled roofs of town
lights in window shafts
but not for her

no bondage is worse 
than  hope of happiness
she wants to give it up 
set herself free

it is easy to forget 
that  we die only seven times 
more slowly 
than our beloved dogs
and spread less cheer
than they do 
in their short spans

you all know the wild grief 
that besets us 
when we remember 
times of happiness.

she leaves last remnants
of her assumed wisdom
in ether
leaving it to be consumed
or subsumed
by greater forces

the soul is ready to move
to find another place
in the scheme of
something we call
universe
but never understand…

Written for dVerse Poetics

Prompt lines chosen

‘You all know the wild grief that besets us when we remember times of happiness.’– Ernst Junger, On the Marble Cliffs, John Lehmann, 1947

‘No bondage is worse than the hope of happiness.’– Carlos Fuentes, Diana: The Goddess Who Hunts Alone, Bloomsbury, 1995

‘It is easy to forget that in the main we die only seven times more slowly than our dogs.’– Jim Harrison, The Road Home, Picador, 1999

‘The winter sun, poor ghost of itself, hung milky and wan behind layers of cloud above the huddled roofs of the town.’– Thomas Mann, Tonio Kroger, Penguin, 1955