Last breath before dawn

 There is breath before dawn
that calls you home to eternal solitude
you walked your way alone
faced with fearful odds
that none but you could ever imagine
for the smile was the holding center
keeping both misery and mystery on check

Life is never truly as blissful
as the silent flow of mutshundudi river
or as beautiful, as phiphidi waterfalls
with water gushing down full of hope
its a mystery, only fully discovered in silence
and your silence came before dawn

They see the anguish
and think there is more to be done
but the chapter folds and the book written
a dash of hope trampled to the soil
where meaning begins
in the depth of solitude
where no one can reach
unless its forever

But once for every man
a dawn comes that he will not see through
yours came like a thief at night
and it comes for all for all of us
to usher us into the true reality
a life in a box, slowly decomposing
until there is no memory
of the days spent in blissful delusion

But for you it came like a thief at night
and left us still hopeful
that the sting was an illusion
that maybe with the waning dawn
you would find your way back to us
for one more a smile
for one more a joke
for one more a secret
for one more a life shared in its fullness

But for you it came like a thief
and stole your last breath
before dawn

R.I.P Tovhowani Nevondo (died 17 April 2015)... a neighbor and a friend