How Many

How many words
for pain
can a heart's thesaurus contain?
How many leaps,
How many desperate
 gasps of breath
 are left
before eternity
 will offer mercy
to the bereft?

How long can
silent shoes
walk through a desert so cursed
before the salt of sorrow
only worsens the thirst

How many mazes
full of tall phases
of grief
must befuddle the mind
until one can find
a golden leaf
and float away?

How many lost souls
have asked the night
if it has seen the day?
and how do they find
the strength to stay?