Image
SCRAPING THE SKY
by Deborah DuBois

friends I’ve just met
or known a lifetime
or two, maybe a day
sad, confused, longing
for what, no idea
maybe no jazzy blue
I reach out to clinch
the emptiness
and hear the echo
fading back
they’re falling fast
blinded by the past
but I see it, I do
here, take this hand
it’s not strong
but sincere
I won’t let you slip
urgently unflagging
a steady please
they wave instead
smile it away
joyride on pride
in a headlong slide
clamber and climb
scraping the sky
they can do it
they and their shadow
just gloom in the dusk
waveless and still
me and my hope
may be unwanted
not unneeded
will still be here
in spite of
the inevitable

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deborah DuBois is a writer from Washington who lives outside Seattle in the most glorious green mountains ever created. She has published one novel — Your Time Is Over — and has the prequel and the sequel in production, where she’s used her poetry as chapter prefaces. She has strong beliefs in God, and most of her poetry reflects this. On her blog shardsofdubois.wordpress.com, she’s published poetry and stories, where most are a reflection of her life and experiences. The blog also showcases the stained glass that she creates in the true antique fashion.

PAINTING: “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh (1889)