The Heaviest Day


Days can be heavy things;
carrying the weight of one, 
alone, on the shoulders
can be a burdensome task.

The sun, though it rises, 
fails to heat through to the heart;
the clouds, though wispy,
obscure  more sky than one can afford;
the moon, though golden,
fails to light the path
through the winding wood.  

— a path no one wants to take,
yet it bears the footprints
of every soul who ever lived.

Stepping out from beneath branches
that reach forth with haggard fingers
in hopes of grabbing one more piece
of what man prizes most,
this day weighs even heavier than the last,
and the next promises 
to follow suit.

—and there hangs a suit 
that wishes never to be worn
on the heaviest day of all.

The breath of another day
fills lungs that wait for a word
that never wants to be whispered
but will ring too loud 
in ears hoping not to hear it
when at last the day will split in two

One part will end with a moonless night
while the other will move on without it
in the same direction as always
but with an altered point of view.

And the breath of one less man
will fill the air. 




november 2007
Janet Reid

   
Third Place Winner
Free Verse Poetry
20th Annual 
Timmins Daily Press Literary Awards
May 2008




Awarded by Poetic Constellations






Awarded by Poetic Constellations