Withering Away

Alone

A white page

So blank and virgin

An empty box

No contents or possessions

A dry river

Barren and longing for rain

A clear sky

Looking for clouds to fill it

An autumn tree

Bereft of its leaves

An empty house

Devoid of motion or life

A rusted blade

Unused yet so overused

An unanswered heart

Longing and calling out

An empty face

All the smile and grace forgotten

An empty coffin

Yet buried inside to fill the grave

A blank gravestone

Unknown, unowned, orphaned

The unattended funeral

No onlookers, no kith, no kin

The white fear

So cold yet burning

So hot yet chilling

So dead yet alive

So alive, yet withering away.

S. Narayanswamy