i had become a prisoner of the night

spending wasteful hours simply searching for a sliver of air that i could breathe in

i had washed myself in the dim lights

and let the silence and the cold caress me

there was no one and nothing that stood in the way of my time

and i reveled in those few hours

when everyone rejuvenated for the following day, i lived - truly lived during those nocturnal hours

when i could just breathe

the night was therapy for my soul

and so i was always there

with the dimming of the moon and the intensity of the stars

i laid in the darkness

and i breathed.
© Judith Mallya