Agony

as much as it

is agony

to walk without you

and your light

in this basement bar

of a world

where broken bottles

leak into the gutter

and bodies slump

over the stained tables

poetry still pours

from the darkness 

as from a womb

and so I choose 

to believe

that you are 

with me

though the 

heavenly chorus

has fallen silent

and I can only hear

my own footfalls 

striking the pavement