Her heart is quick
with the black void
that resides between stars.

Even though her beauty blinds you,
your love cannot save her
from the emptiness

and the galaxy sized journey
that, at the speed of light,
takes a million years.

Her silence is absolute
in the vacuum of space
and on the barstool next to yours.

She watches the bar-tide mirror
for empty stares, but the other patrons
see only the bottom of their beers.

She closes her ears to the restless din inside
and focuses on the unspoken desire
of the public room’s unaware sybils.

An hour before the bar-time Lotharios
hit the red shift, the blue shift
she removes herself from their gravity,

from this lit space where everyone sees
only the shell, but not the ghost inside
or the depths of heaven.

On her way out, she leans into you,
whispers in your ear, Close your eyes
to see the way out from this midnight cave.