I Crave Night

A dark charm cast in an onyx band

Polished black snug upon my hand

Etched with words I didn’t write

Encircling me through morning light

It warms when dawn leans in too close

A quiet hum, a measured dose

The sun looks down, then turns its face

As if it’s bound to give me space

The circle holds, the hours behave

But nothing here is truly saved

I move through light, but I crave night

I stay intact, but I crave night

I pass for whole, yet I crave night

The dark will come, and I crave night

They think I’ve learned to walk the day

I haven’t—I just pay the way

A tether tight around my life

It drags me through the hollow strife

It dulls the burn, it mutes the flame

Leaves me upright, not the same

I speak, I nod, I play it right

But nothing in me takes the light

It guards the flesh, it buys the time

It doesn’t touch what’s left of mine

I move through light, but I crave night

I stay intact, but I crave night

I pass for whole, yet I crave night

The dark will come, and I crave night

It doesn’t bless, it doesn’t heal

It doesn’t numb what I can feel

It only stands between the flame

And lets me function, not remain

If there’s a soul still bound to bone

It lives inside the ring alone

Cold band

Slow drain

Still here

No flame

I move through light, but I crave night

I stay intact, but I crave night

I pass for whole, yet I crave night

The dark will come, and I crave night

At sundown, I trace the ring again

Let silence fill my chest at last

The night returns what day denies

And I remember how to rise