Sandcastle

I can't sleep, so I rise
From my bed, and go out
Where the moon scrapes the tiles
With reflected light.

There's a door at the end of the world,
So I exit and ask God a question.
He's busy, so I'm stranded
On the tip of a purple pen.

I can hear the birds chirping,
But I don't know their language.
Instead my conversations
Are held between me and I.

In avoidance of echoes,
I run from the noise.
Too many talons
Have sunk in my skin.

Streetlights are stressful,
But they dim with the dawn.
I spend my days in silence,
Wandering empty isles.

When the sky's gone black and grey,
The stars come out to play.
The sense of shame, the weighted name,
The erasure fades away...

A sudden starry storm
Leads me down the stairs.
I grip the iron rail
And feel it fall to dust.

As I step from the stairway,
I stand on the sand.
The voice of the waves
Is old and new.

From a distance, I watch
As the little girl plays,
Building her castle
While the waves lie low.

I know the tides will rise,
Her world swept out to sea.
She can't be warned, so I just watch,
And wish I'd go away.

I'm not the only watcher;
From the corner of my eye,
A shadow down the shore
Is yet engulfed in black.

So the little girl plays,
While the shadow and I
Watch and wait, and maybe wonder
If the fortress ever fell.

The tides may take
That tilted tower,
But she won't recede,
She'll build again.

Her voice hasn't vanished,
Her star can't be stolen;
She speaks to the shadow,
And speaks to me.

Always, always,
She speaks to me...

When the sky's gone black and grey,
The stars come out to play.
The festive frame, the nascent name,
The pain is not the same...

With every crest, there comes a trough,
But the waves are still alive.

And so am I.

And so am I.