THE SHADES OF DILIGENCE

A clock’s tick echoes

those reminders of spirit’s emptiness.

How doe one measure

the work of one’s hands

without a single

affirmation

to fuel the heart?

When only the wind

is witness

unto my finger’s joys

any flame of inspiration

so often cools.

That is when

one must put on

the shades of diligence

that will keep

a person’s vision from blurring in despair

through those long

dark eves

of obscurity.