Fading Gently into the Night

The snow was deafening in its quiet

My mukluks squeaked in the snow

Under my tuque

My breath filled my fur lined parka

I felt the ice drip from my beard

The night was white in the moon's radiance

There was nothing else

There was no path

Nothing
I existed in this sea of bone chilling cold
I was even without her love

The fire had been taken from my heart
I remember all those decades back
The hours of prayer from my cell mate's lips
I remember his hanging body in the morning