loss of yesterday with its
childhood and youth
loss of evenings drowned in
gin and vermouth
loss of weight from
the sickly wasting away
loss of warmth and glow
as night consumes day
loss of those both long ago
and those a moment before
loss of pain we welcome
and the joy we choose to ignore
loss of colored canvases
that fade and wither to gray
loss of sparks of interest
and desires once craved
life is loss
loss of skin cells, electrons
and other particles
loss of hopes and dreams
and other carnivals
loss of shirt and house
and of skin and bone
loss of the surrounding
world that once was known
loss of perceptions that
keep eyes from seeing
loss of sense of self and
definition of being
loss of the endless skies
with their soaring birds
loss of breath and air
and whispers with their words
