Daily Rounds Poem by Paul Brookes

There lies midnight's pains a crater of sorrows.
on the inside out, outside,
on the periphery the edge of time,
the chapter ring where seconds tick.

inside alive but fatally falling apart,
not knowing where the heart belongs,
always smiling so it seems a brittle grimace

take me not at face value, I'm a lie,
life is where we hide when we cry
living inside, this we can't deny.

life's a litany of denial, a devils snare
and love a lance we cannot bear,
for there lies midnight's pains.