Close Scrapes With Death

When life scrapes against death
leaving you in a constant
cycle of recuperation and illness

and those stalactite tears
hanging from your eyes
become hardened by circumstance

and the fight against darkness
drains your soul
picking your bones clean

leaving you incapable
of keeping someone alive
by sheer willpower alone

you will realise
there is no end in sight
no use in reaching for hope

and that’s the black-and-white of it