Reflections

Painful memories paint a grimace on my face,
Eyes squint in the ghost of a sun.

A bead of sweat trickles down,
following a single thread to the past
as my mind reaches.

My fists clench,
remembering times of battles past,
some won, some lost,
and now only fighting shadows.

The whispers of fire,
from passions long gone
tickle my senses.
Twinges of pleasure
that once ignited my body
are now only dying embers,
Flickering.

Ears strain,
Dull roaring,
Sounds blending into silence.

Lips move,
Mumbling tangled expressions of
have-beens
and might-have-beens.

My feet shuffle
the mortal coil,
stepping reluctantly into the twilight.

The drums beat,
my heart stutters,
a rhythm of life not yet silenced.

Life clings,
refusing to let go,
because
there is still once dance left.