voids –

spaces not filled –

empty – holes …

a glance –

eyes searching for confirmation,

not returned.

a hand – offered –

friendship –

given –

no takers…

sentences without punctuation.

and you –

the question i am not allowed to answer!

caught up in the vortex of assume.

we place our hearts on trays of trust –

offer invitation to presentations of our self.

with marked deliberation –

we push the everything of all we are onto center stage –

dim the lights –

create atmosphere of intimate accommodation.

and there.

exposed.

wearing only the skin of our re-purposed conviction –

we promenade our is –

recite monologues of our suppose.

there is,

i feel,

no sorrow more defined than diminished expectation.

to strip away the layers of apprehension –

peel off the mask of reluctant –

allow access to the very essence of our was,

in hopes of finding partner on the journey to our will become –

and find,

when naked of all but our indiscretion,

the effort wasted –

could-be not an option…

as the curtain begins to close –

lights of life begin to dim –

we realize the absence of audience.

as one by one the patrons reassigned.

most often to follow adventures we cannot comprehend.

while we remain –

restrained as sand within the hourglass of our own demise.