They think

we are

lesser than this,

‘as if the night

blew our souls

away.’

I believe their

smiles are laced

with poison

‘perfume from

Oleander

the eagles flight,

this moment is

silence.’

They ask for

omnipotence

& we gladly

give away

our children:

‘nurtured &

hard won

their small faces

open to the light.’

Days evolve

into century,

I sit at the

corner of

nowhere,

stretch out

to search

the small

path home.

I gave away

everything

handed it over

gladly,

 & you

return to me

unseen

‘a whisper

of slender’

smiling from

berry lips

stained with

the kisses

of another.

I was not asking

for an easy ride,

like you I know

the road to Calvary

is paved with brine:

Now there’s sea salt

in my hair, my lungs

a spider’s web of

‘left behind’

they rattle like a vintage tram,

all slickness burnt away.

I broke the day

you turned aside;

pursued the distant summit

I can’t climb, turned just once

& winked that eye,

or was it shadow in the light?

The sun went in & darkness

filled the land,

you left us blind.

I was not hoping for

a helping hand;

though many have tried

the years fly by in

supersonic mode,

& turbulence has

taken toll

all futures set aside

for this soul road.

I will not promise

not to cry

my tears run through

a crack in memory

create a peaceful pool

where I can bathe secure,

this life, a stepping stone

to freedom.

You paint the

empty corners

where sunlight

spikes the shadows.

Who am I

to understand

your truth?

You nightly

stroll through

dream,

my child:

at least once

you were

now grown

in beauty.

We talk

in whispers,

eons

separate & rent

our structure.

You hide:

an enigma

to me.

Your cells

still circulate

my blood,

& yet

like mountain

peaks we gaze

but never broach

the distance.