Reflection of Distance

I look up—

at the border of pain,

a fragment of a Chaitra cloud

walks slowly away.

I watch the cloud,

holding the skull of sunlight in my hand,

and follow

the shadow.

When evening falls,

the light goes out.

The shadow

steps before me.

Upon the silent wall

appears

the reflection of its absence.

As night deepens,

distance widens.

Planets and nebulae

scatter into the dark.

Then,

when the wandering sunlight

returns,

I awaken.

The shadow,

hemmed in by infinite emptiness,

thrashes

inside

a spider’s web.