Poems by Eric Gardner

When there is no end to night

dancing in the parlor 
listening to the wind. 
a man in the corner spoke heavily 
cursing out his whims. 
night came cascading 
down onto the world. 
the stars lit on fire 
silent and unheard. 

creatures of darkness 
explode into life. 
devouring all the day things 
causing painful fright. 
loneliness escapes somewhere 
lands itself on me. 
I'm all by myself 
and it's too dark to see. 

midnight battle clouds 
fighting in the sky. 
thundering with lightning 
and rumbling for awhile. 
who could keep his mind 
in a world so  full of fire? 

the wind just keeps on dancing 
waltzing through my soul. 
blowing all my thoughts away 
never easy to let go. 
the night time slowly fades away 
losing to the day. 
the silence is shattered 
by the darkness going away. 

white magic holds the cards awhile 
oblivious to the night 
then the sand man comes 
and puts out out humble light. 
darkness if released again 
covering all the land. 
babies in the crib again 
waving 'round their hands. 

the parlor lights flicker 
and fade out of life. 
I wonder what will happen 
when there is no end to night?

Lonely Beaches

Here we sit on lonely beaches 
with just the stars above 
and the sands to teach us 
to our left 
lie broken bridges 
and to our right, 
civilization's fringes 
but even here 
where life abounds 
the fear of failure 
can bring a good man down 

looking out to sea 
we lose perception 
of how to face fear without deception 
and the waves roll in 
as if to remind us 
that life is nothing 
without the boundaries that bind it 

how could we live 
if there were no death? 
as if life were an eternity 
like the oceans depths? 

...standing up in all this sand 
is all life asks of any man.

-Eric Gardner