a clearing

today i walked along a path,
and found a broken home.
foundations once filled with sterling
now rotted from the outside in.

it's silver bricks once layed carefully
now displaced upon the floor.
grasping walls in my inability to feel the ground,
i lightly tread upon the surface, if only to avoid the cracks.
two hands decipher the lettering
hands distangling carvings of promises now eaten away by time.

my hesitation to walk any further leads me into questions, and more questions into more thoughts.

where did it all go?
why did it really end?
or is there more i just can't see?

i step away from the clearing
back into time
harboring speculations much heavier than when i began,
dragging the guilt of unknown loss behind me.

and yet, my steps guide me somewhere dark.
moving further away from my thoughts
away from the weight
as if each sound takes me further into suspension.
into stillness.
closer to the safety of shelter.