Tiny thoughts

Tiny thoughts cross
the mind - what one desires
tempered by the art of compassion
is perhaps the only difference
between a wolf who bays at the moon
and a man who reaches across
the bed to touch the slumbering shoulder
of the woman who is next to him.

Tiny thoughts cross
the mind - if a tear is shed
when one is alone does that make
the sorrow any less painful
or merely deepen the echo
that rends the isolated heart?

Tiny thoughts cross
the mind - when we surrender
to the despair that clutches
at the heart, perhaps we are only
admitting to the guilt
for the suffering
that we have caused others.

Tiny thoughts cross
the mind - the clocks ticks,
ticks deep into the night
where these words cohere,
join to form their own limited logic,
and stare back into my face
while they create their own universe
where I am merely a player
who watches them form
this page beneath him.