Nine Days

Artwork: While You're Sleeping - Audrey Kawasaki, 2009

the clock
ticks:

minutes pass,
seconds
of life
fluttering,
flitting
by.

i sit in
the darkness
and wait
even
as the
pain
cripples me
more than
i care
to admit.

the fear
breaks me
but i
try
not to
let it
show.

i think
of you
and think
too hard
and worry
myself
sick
and worn
and ragged.

and i
wait
still;
nine days
ere
my year
turns

and i
weep
and i sigh
and i
worry
myself
to
shreds.