My115thDream

Poem - "A Season of Change"

Tonight as I trudge through the glowing remains
Of one hundred and sixteen days,
I hear myself cough as I try to shake off
The sense of impending malaise.
A faded reflection of my only protection
Once said that water is wide,
The season is fading and I’m slowly persuading
Myself to take it in stride.
Promises made to myself I recall,
Forgotten before they were spoken,
But their purpose was served, for the bonds of these words
In the interest of glory were broken.
The summer of penance and of biding my time
Never quite reached fruition,
To abandon the chase is not to save face
But to grind against strong intuition.
But the past keeps gnawing and I feel like I’m drawing
Parallel lines in the sand,
Blind to the signs of the same frightened faces
And betting the very same hand.
But then, like a hole in the hanging haze
Of uncanny cluttered confusion,
The words of an angel of desolate joy
Took the place of a listless illusion.
These words could only impart what I’ve known
Since the final days of the flood,
But it took the voice of an angel to pierce
Through the double-talk, violence, and blood.
This angel and I, in ascent to the sky
From which we fell long ago,
We can’t help but laugh as we see our two paths
In the frozen landscape below.
I know the journey is far from complete,
In fact it has hardly begun,
But finally my face is feeling the warmth
Of a land where once it was shunned.
And as for the penance I promised to pay,
I’ve started without even knowing,
I’ve laid on the line what I swore I would hide,
And I’m here with my soft spot showing.
I’m betting the house on a whisper and wink
And treading dangerous ground,
But I know I can beat the odds on the street
In this wide-eyed world I’ve found.
So now in the wake of a season of change,
While poking around in the rubble,
I find the foundation of sweet salvation
Hidden in the requisite trouble.
Surprise subsides and it’s been quite a ride,
A fast-paced, furious lurch,
I’ve found redemption in every last corner
Except those I set out to search.