It’s hard enough with the sky broad and shining
as though a hungry blade
in the last grip of God,
but to have you in a dream,
revenant, crawled up from the blue hour
when only the first birds, the furred tongue,
the branches black against sour-milk air,
when only these darkness’s rule-
to have you then and lose you in
that instant of fire
as the world of stink and ache crashes through the dawn,
is worse
than losing you the first time-
because it is not you alone
that is leaving
but the dream
that also was you.
Gareth Spark is a writer and artist from the wilds of North Yorkshire. His work has appeared at Out Of The Gutter, Line Zero Shotgun Honey and many more journals and ‘zines. He is currently working on his second novel and will one day make a film for less than £50.