There are these moments

in the empty stillness

when all that you are

seems unreal,

and frail,

as like to vanish

as the morning mist.

Have I carved a piece of you

from the loneliness

of my heart?

Or do you live and breathe,

as I see, a vision of glory,

separate from the hollows

in my soul?

The fading reflection

of hope

smiles at me

out of the corner of my eye

but when I turn,

it's already gone.

This is my nightmare:

joy and beauty,

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

dancing out of reach.

I have painted

a picture of a castle

in the sky that you can see

when winter is here,

watched over by the light

of distant stars.

Perhaps you'll come back

if you see this:

a palace of starlight,

fading into the mist.

Stand with me

beneath the glow of those

far-flung, fading dreams,

and gaze in wonder

at true ephemera

breathing in the rays of

a cold radiance,

the light of distant suns

that may already be dead.

So slip your hand into mine

that we may be assured

of something real

as we stand beneath

the fading sky

when midnight comes.