Silent but distant, Real but not seen Here but not happening, Forever has been Into this absence, Two had but strayed Retracing in circles, They surrendered, dismayed Behind them, darkness Ahead, the unknown So they stood, uninvited ...But the roots had grown An error, a tangent A curious mind An instant, a lifetime A secret to find Imagined movements Near shimmering webs The Nightfall descended To rest by their heads Their feet planted firmly 'Neath four darting eyes With pupils dilated, They counted the sighs The dream and the waking Occurring together Realising, then That it mattered not whether Imagined movements Near shimmering webs The Nightfall descended To rest by their heads Their feet planted firmly 'Neath four darting eyes With pupils dilated, They counted the sighs Their legs fading into A curding moss Their lungs slowly filling With decades of loss That scent from the forest Not taking, not giving They knew only this — Not buried, not living Their stagnating veins Now hidden from view In skin for the willow And bone for the dew The dream and the waking Ending together Understanding then It had not mattered, ever