Absolutes

Speak to me of absolutes,
inescapable truths
haunting the human
experience

Child rearing households
stir in small hour stillness,
soothing anxious fits of fright,
calming consternation
beside bedframes

The craving for community meets
desperation for internal intimacy.
Seclusion quarrels solitude,
camouflaged as the latter
to persuade the owner
that loneliness is the
only way to be alone.

Even living bodies decay,
growing longer, stouter, stiffer,
shedding skin cells until
carbon and condensation
cease to escape from
respiratory cavities.

Speak to me of tenderness
as universals
unfold.