if i stop moving
sit
perfectly still
the only sounds
are
the raven
and the ceiling fan
sputtering futilely

there should be
peace in this
then tell my why
the loneliness
is so thick
so pervasive
so persuasive
so

my heart
is fortunato
this emptiness
my wine cellar
slowly
brick by brick
i erect a cell
for it to atrophy

one last sip
of amontillado
the burn
the last thing
i shall feel
before
sealing
the crypt

will the resonating thump
from
behind the masonry
like an echo
beneath
the floorboard
give sign
of life

or
does this castle
crumble down
with foundations
built on the corpse
of yet another
love gone astray
signal doom

don yon mask
for the danse macabre
begins soon my love
the flush of cheek
from the poison
my pen
has written
upon your soul

no time to rue
not in this morgue
of dreams
to spin happily
beneath
the chandelier
of shadow
cast in vain

in this silence
of sitting
so still
hearing the awl
scrape against
the mortar laden tray
of sweet succor
in remorse