Sonnet: The Place

My eyes flit open, darkness trickles in
The sky is cloudless, dun and without moon,
The wind gurgles, tiptoeing up my skin,
Inhibitions swept away by its tune

My legs wobble, I stand, naked and blind,
The sigh of yesterday caught in my throat
Trunks dot the ground where ghost trees have resigned,
Where lovers dreamed and former poets wrote

Numb salt and water, chilly on my cheek,
Memories cloud my mind, and disappear
I see her running, pale and grey and bleak
Her hair thick with pain, her eyes dark with fear

She caressed my blue lips and stole my breath,
She left me sinking in the arms of death.

Alice Bellan