I can’t believe how brief
the day is,
how unlike any day
I’ve ever known.

It’s not a day at all really,
just a skein of light
between two nights,

the brief shock
of sunrise stumbling
across a sunset,
like a man catching a glimpse
of his own double,
then it all going black.

And cold…
I’ve never known a heart
as cold as this.
It’s not selective.
It’s out to chill the blood
of everyone.

Hard life breeds hard men,
so the wisdom has it.
But maybe hard men
just show up some place
and this is the result.