And so a shroud
Lays thick upon my neck
Crawling up my brow
And encasing my face
Slowly shutting me out from the world
Thick guttural darkness
Sealing me away
Creating a barrier and leaving
Leaving me alone
Surrounded by the blackness
Everywhere I go
In every room
Of every day
The black
Even while I sit in the sun
And mirth goes on around me
Black is my vision
Black is my mind

And so a shroud
Sits heavily upon my wrists
Snuffing out the potential
The potential of creation
To break free
Burning my skin
Chilled to the touch
Numbing my arms and strength
And again as we move
From place to place
They stay tight
Keeping the life blood from my hands
Turning them slowly black

And so a shroud
Tightly woven ore my chest
Forces out of me
Sigh after sigh
Slowly draining breath from breath
Each one must be counted
As they will never come again
As all the people in my life
I slowly watch them trickle away
Until alone I sit in the blackness

And so a shroud
Encasing both my feet
Is but the last venture
To wring me out of light
And suffice me to the dark
Through all my toils
The power to move was mine
To allow my body to feel slightly alive
And once again a shroud is placed
To keep me alone
In full
All help has come and gone
And shall never return
Nor I to it
For in the black
Is only what is

And so a shroud
Should give a lesson learned
IT was not the shroud driving all away
It was me
I created and placed my shroud
For even without it
None would stay
Alone
Alone is me
Shroudless or shroudfull
To sit forever
in the black.