Floating above the earth It seems I haven't touched down in years Not on any ground I would call sacred Pounding on concrete that wore away my soul I left sanity and simplicity behind Days on end spent plugged into some wire Or tethered to an invisible beam Bits and bytes here and there Metallic sheen on shattered mirrors of broken dreams The very life and love energy sucked out of the ones I care for Such deep wounds left by the leeches of time I searched far and wide for a broader path Only to watch the sun pass over the barren blocks of industry Illuminating the emptiness behind tinted glass I sought love round every corner of the world Met with cold hearts and blind eyes Half-open arms and clenched fists And the one who held the tightest grip Choked off every ounce of my will Pulled the color and the brightness of my world away Like some crumpled and stained sheet on a bed Long waves of hair tumbled to the floor Skirts torn and paisley patterns faded and worn Drab blocks of solid color Collars with buttons, slacks, jeans and tight-laced shoes Sustenance stolen, best plans laid to waste Cardboard and plastic, the convenience of satisfaction The art lost in cuisine when there's only a single mouth to feed Backed into corners like some caged animal Running a meager mile to survive another moment Dreaming of the ease of golden streets Longing for the buzz of star-crossed spirits Turning about to match your steps as they pass through your path The shops call out from strings of jingling bells set upon the doors The true craft of the human hand ever beckoning Standing still for a frame of time Knocked every which way off my feet by sights, sounds and smells If this is home, why can't I afford to live here? When does the starving artist get what's due? When can one close the rule book of lessons learned? Then open the journal of living experiences Will all these fragile wishes slip through my hands? Is it too late to be noticed by another lost soul missing half their heart? Do I wait to open the way for a child's entry? Or, must I close off the channels of life and bar them from collecting dust? Tears well up in my eyes so deeply That I stumble along the returning path Back to the gaping hole in the old lady's wall Ever prodded and pierced by her relentless eyes Coddled in comfort by the long-acquainted elders Before being dragged by the elbow somewhere they prefer To bathe the insolent child in heavy, heated spotlights That very well may catch the faint glow within Until the higher voice is silenced by the low, scripted drivel A stunned body rigid in a chair Watching as they bustle around her Completing in record time on the stopwatch of society The mundane daily appointed tasks She's forgotten how to perform the exact right way So, they refuse to allow her to remember Crawling under the blankets for another uneasy night of sleep Only to find in the morning the bed half off its rails The fittings snapped away from the mattress they're supposed to stretch across Companions of child-like imagination lay strewn about Face-down on the low floor All hope sinks below and behind the forward-marching footsteps Of a disconnected life and spirit living through another pointless day As time ticks away on the universal clock of life This post has been promoted to an article
