Free Fall

Speaking to an audience
talking to a friend
suddenly
a memory, an image, a face --

Voice falters, words dry up
breathing hesitates
emotion overwhelms the soul
mutes the tongue

Powerless before a fact
before a loss irreparable
unbearable the absence
immense the yearning

Absence becomes present
Space is blank, time stands still
cosmic silence all around
Time and space are one

Despair before the existential abyss
Free fall to our inner self
sweeping sorrow, senses numbed
all sounds deafened, deafening

Shouting “No” within us
Vital in denial
Visions of our life, love, raison d’être
Suspended present, timeless time

Yet our λόγος struggles
Breaks, breaks, breaks the spell
Composure is regained
Epiphany illuminates us

Words return  -- and tears.        AdeZ