I See...

I was reading some Whitman the other day – "Leaves of Grass" – and was inspired to write some free verse. Poetry is something I've dabbled in over the years, and while I'm never satisfied with what I've written, I feel it's a healthy exercise. I wasn't going to post this here, but a friend and fellow writer said I should.

So, here's what I wrote.

–––––

I can’t see the person

I see sweat, tears, blood

Pain, despair, suppressed longing

Stains on the conscience scrubbed raw

I see shells and facades

The remnant of a childhood lost

A vain clutch at a phantom breeze

Bearing fix’d mistakes from a previous life

I see cues taken

From generations before

Worn paths, crooked and straight

Myriad means converging at the same, inevitable end

I see connections

Forged by want and need

Friends and lovers dancing ‘round

Led by notes of flat plains and sharp valleys

I see families

Bound by strings of DNA

Bonding and fissuring in undulations

Ever defined by blood and an unchosen name

I see monsters

Ravaging ones, meek ones

Ones unsure which side to take

And those who wish they could be angels

I see skin, hair, veins

Flesh to be caressed and cut

A thin sheet of beauty pulled taut

To cover the macabre form of our souls

I see rituals

Words handed down

Drinks at 5:00 passed around

Men in silent combat with their father’s shadow

I see chaff

Buffeted and tossed

Floating indistinct across fields

Landing where it will in its own time

I see monuments

Built by a scheming world

Balanced upon anonymous shoulders

Toppled by the capricious shifts of money and ideals

I see refuse

Swept down the sidewalk

By the passing swoosh of wingtips

Filling in the jagged cracks to save stubbed toes

I see masks

Hiding tortured faces

Prosthetic grins beneath sad eyes

Crow’s feet scratching at the plastic skin

I see promise

Frenetically swirling inside

Bubbling and boiling as if in a cauldron

Seeking an outlet to explode itself into the world

I see rivers of blood

Spilled in the giving and taking of life

Splashing across the grass and the lilies

The sins of man lapping at my feet as I tread the shore

I see hope

Nonsensical, indomitable

Reaching blindly into the mist

Assured its faith will soon be rewarded