Without

Newborn squints in world of light,
And cold, and color, and space,
And limber limbs vainly extend,
For the satin amnio embrace,
A burning in the core and skin,
Of air over and through a face,
Of cherub fear.

These inept eyes in blurry hunt,
For that one voice already known,
Waves of unmuffled sounds smother,
And drown the pined maternal tone,
Then lost, the life cord connection,
For the milk of love, bone of bone,
And skin to tear.

A trembling besets failing sight,
Aged eyes turn pallid and dull,
Irises stray from the worship,
Of photons to forms, now made null,
Foreground melds to background,
As the orbs fail within the skull,
Days gray, austere.

And hand to hand in fellowship,
Unspoken vigil 'ere the rest,
A lifetime congeals in moments,
When ebbing consciousness attests,
That what is loved is never lost,
And as a Spirit leaves its nest,
The comfort draws near.

Every breath,
Is the story,
With,
Without.