Blanket of Blackness

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Blanket of Blackness

silence

   straining my ears to hear anything 

        but   silence 

an ominous feeling washes over me 

   where are my thoughts leading me?

       unknown   at this juncture in time

fresh snowfall 

   mixing with sleet

sleet meeting with an opposing 

   non-menacing   force

sleet bouncing off sidewalks   streets 

   anything solid 

footsteps   in the crinkly snow

   crunching   crunching 

      an unusual sound   to be sure

blackness   surrounding my world 

   time hastening 

blackness    penetrating silence 

   deafening 

blackness   surrounding 

   unseen   unheard 

all sound    muffled with the weight 

   of the blanket of blackness 

silence on streets 

   movement   ceased

       sounds    hushed 

struggling   is   futile 

   in escaping time 

        and

    deafening silence 

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