The Party

I feel empty of words
as if someone had spilt them
into the ground
for the earth to swallow

I slip between indistinct shadows
of my friends chasing my soul as it
floats away towards the evening sky
like a cloud of white chimney smoke.

I answer, words detached, to
their questions, searching for
responses as I laugh and smile
dropping the curtain in front of my face

turning away loneliness steals
over me, a dark cloak I pull
about myself, like a shield;
it is a cold companion

the door slams behind me shoes
treading so softly as I walk while
staring away to the twilight clouds
with edges of gold and silver threads

behind me the music blares in its own
rhythm, pulsing, it fades away like a dim
mist in my realm of peace, of dreams
take me away to where I belong.