On this long cobbled path
On neither side lit
Splitting through darkness
I am bound

Forever walking
Through the abyss
I hear the echoes of silence
I see the shadows of dark

I watch the ephemeral spectres
As they emerge from the abyss
Onto the path
In front of me

They gain form before me
Eyes, mouth, lips
Hands, feet, skin
When I reach them, I cannot pass through

After a blink, they perish
Fall asunder, off the path
I remember as they tumble
Into the abyss below

Only I remain, on the path
Remember each one of them
So that when I reach the end
I look back to see them lying
Where the cobbles had been.

20.V.2024