Tears Before Bed Time

Tears Before Bed Time

Night folds me in its hand,

and the shadows grow longer.

The day is finished now,

but the ache does not rest.

A pillow waits in silence,

it gathers what I give.

Tears before bed time,

fall soft without reply.

They soak the cotton deep,

leaving no mark by morning.

Yet the sadness remains,

an echo in my chest.

I close my eyes for peace,

but peace will not appear.

Instead I see the faces,

that memory will not free.

Tears before bed time,

become a kind of prayer.

I hope the night will answer,

but it never speaks at all.

Lonely is the hour,

when the world has gone to sleep.

I whisper to the silence,

and the silence whispers back.

Still I let the tears fall,

for they are mine to give.

A ritual of sorrow,

a comfort born of pain.

By morning I will rise,

and hide the night away.

But tears before bed time,

will return again tonight.