Broken Before The Dawn

In the stubborn night it came
fleeing from the old school cane
while I drown in sleep without a wince
my waxing eyes did seldom mince
along the empty corridors
in the shadows of wooden floors
wishing and shouting out its name
I hid my dignity in disdain
Fear and terror melt my sheets
shaking beneath these cotton pleats
and as I flee down corridors
the stubborn night unsheathes its claws
piercing the sky with lucid stars
that lights and marks those deathly scars
of childhood play in abandoned glee
one stubborn night in January
Every chased footfall is absorbed
in those empty corridors
unknown routes I cannot trace
leave me alone to embrace
the damp bedding in which I lie
waiting for the day to cast its eye
upon the window in my lonely room
and end this stubborn nights perfume
No defence against the morning light
I am pursued against my plight
and have to pay a thousand times
repeat on blackboard a thousand lines
set there by old and young
who come to gawp at my lost tongue
as I excuse my current fate
quoting bible passage I negate
the perfect naked body exposed
accidentally before the close
of this stubborn night is sworn
and I am broken before the dawn