Tearful Moments

The tearful moments
of our lives - the ones
that puncture, wound
scar and injure us -
containing us in metallic
boxes of fear that we
live in
The heavy memory
of a parent lost when
in our youth, the 
death of a spouse
or the suicide of a
grown child, a friend
murdered, a cousin
put away, our mother
with dementia

These are moments of
red lava and streaming
flames becoming our
life source, leaving
us breathless in the
streets, as we sleep
in the shadows

No happy family
or white house with
picket fences
not for us
We only have stars
lighting our path -
making us scramble
from the monster -
getting us out of
the dark and blood
that stains our souls

Tired and scared,
small and weakened,
our heels edge the
torment
We rush as it chases
us - gaining on us
panting like wounded
stray dogs