Pain dulls with time
and loneliness seems far less lonely
as the years peel by,
yet somehow Sadness,
like a limpet,
sticks rigid to our guts.

It is invulnerable,
an alien invader,
incompatible and cold,
and all we have
in our only defense
is ignorance and passing time
and hoping memories will fade.

It is beyond our guilt
or our remorse,
fueled by the roads not taken,
and yearning for the whos
we've hurt or lost.

It is just well-earned sorrow,
calling loudly from the dark,
a haunting song that serenades
and echoes through the dawn,
to soften our brittle hearts,
in which our souls are drawn.