Midnight of the Soul

The midnight of the soul
is night so deep
the darkness of the grave
cannot compete.

The body's cold remains,
its lack of pain,
appear to us as sleep.
Time seeps like snow
into every crack and crevice.

Darkness of the soul is different:
loss on loss,
no spot of light, no easement;
only cost
that cannot in a lifetime
be paid,
an endless hole
that cannot be filled
by deed or God’s own grace.

Familiar of the night,
the restless soul,
unlike the digging mole,
strives toward the light,
emitting cries of anguish,
grief and fright.