Black of Night

In the forest the moon
glistens briefly as it dances
in and out among leaves.
The wind promises no time
for silence and footsteps
churn the brush, whispered
drumbeat with each passage.
You don’t often know dark
like this, glimpses of light
only heightening the sable’s
impossibility of piercing.
You’re alone and forgotten
here — alone you left a place
you knew, and into the dark,
one tentative step at a time,
you know you’ll never return
to light.