One Chapter a Day

Your tears suddenly stop me
even as the world continues,
the staccato of sniffles stun,
but what really traps me are your eyes.

How that beautiful gaze transforms
into a portal of sadness and fear,
breaks the heart, if only temporarily,
submerging both spirits into an abyss.

Where is that cheerful smile, I wonder,
a voice I remember laughing, choked,
our tired minds scarcely able to recover,
merely biding our time until it passes.

From this distance I feel helpless,
but never think I don't understand,
that I don't mourn what may be lost,
my silence only a stilled tongue.

This story is still being written
despite some of the ink running,
and the words are drying, stained in time,
yet there remains countless pages ahead.

Would it help if I read to you
so that you could rest your tired eyes?