You Asleep

I am watching you sleeping;

withdrawn to that room, your nightly retreat,

where you will go at the end

to nurse the petering flame of your life,

accompanied by yourself alone and, perhaps,

 manifestations of you that have been.

But now your face is quiet.

Out here, ignorant of all that’s stirring within,

I can only wish for your peace and comfort.

The prospect of you, in that room in the future, clumps

                                                                     through my mind;

I turn away, haul myself back to the present,

but my eyes remain open, headlights into the future.