The Longest Night

It's the darkest hour,
But your longing gaze wanders.
The clock has reeled to midnight,
Hands stuttering between the 12 and 1
Back and forth
Back and forth
Has a night gone so long?

The shadows dangle from their box,
They're taunting me, I cry.
But you couldn't hear
No, you wouldn't hear me.

The ticking in my ears
Time breathes, does it not?
Or was the droning of the beats,
Vicious yet fervent,
Deafening the silence I know nothing of?

Sleepless eyes unwatered but willing,
Blind me, I cry.
The peripherals of your love,
I can not perceive,
For I rest here, a stone,
Alongside the stuttering clock.

The burning in my throat,
The knotting in my veins,
Unfed but content,
Poor heart, it has begun to eat itself.
Oh the swelling,
Oh the swelling,
Has a night gone so long?