Thirty-Three Reasons Why (poem) by Dawn Richerson on AuthorsDen

Thirty-Three Reasons Why
by Dawn Richerson → (All Poetry by Dawn Richerson)

Save



Candles on an angel food cake huffed out without a song or birthday wish. I count thirty-three reasons why I’m here and swiftly brush away delinquent tear[i]. I select a long red licorice stick, contours smooth[ii]. How is it I was, too, three years hence, tall with experience[iii], proud of my place in this world[iv], ego soothed. Full from melancholy and reflection[v], I reach for higher things[vi], but my life like the oboe must be meant for sadder songs[vii] whose notes enrich but lack direction[viii]. In a corner[ix] I sit like an awkward table with wobbly legs[x]. Backed up against opposite wall, everyone watches[xi] my wooden fate[xii]. One kind soul[xiii] asks if I recall[xiv] crush velvet purple folds, layered dignity[xv], draped fabric of a stronger me born to rise above[xvi], that self who will not be cajoled[xvii]. I remember when and spiral spin[xviii] left then right. Taking the shape of a star, I lose my edges[xix], become burgeoning world of light. I explode[xx] through watery world of shadow[xxi], ancient intelligence[xxii] ready to be reborn in me. Dolphin gray[xxiii] matter[xxiv] meets soul[xxv]; merge to one. I fly to rainbow[xxvi]. Through translucent color I pass as wind that stirs[xxvii] rustling leaves that would rather sleep through golden day. I seek, then find[xxviii] last lonely leaf. Lifted, I dance[xxix], carried away[xxx] to wooden bridge that fords a mountain stream. Still in love[xxxi], I lay me down[xxxii], invite inhabitants of two worlds: “Come, cross my path that we might live our dream[xxxiii]. [i] Runaway grief flows on. [ii] Life has etched in me deep valleys, but faith has softened rough edges. [iii] I have lived and so have learned. [iv] Still, I have a place. [v] Sad remembrance deserves to be acknowledged. [vi] Hope insists that I stretch toward future. [vii] A “Happy Birthday” to offset the lower notes. [viii] Perhaps marking another year might remind me of my course. [ix] Celebration coaxes me from my right-angled comfort zone. [x] I stumble toward another year. [xi] The show must go on, after all. An audience demands it. [xii] Stiff now, yet one day I will rot. [xiii] A single soul has made the difference, called me forth from early grave. [xiv] In faint memory, I can see her – me that stands tall. [xv] Heartbreak wrapped in swaddling clothes. [xvi] I was birthed into this world for a purpose, to rise above the fray. [xvii] Jeers and jabs no longer sway me. [xviii] Energy converges and its centrifugal force awakens something in me. [xix] Change, the soul constant in my life. [xx] With a big bang I conclude this, my thirty-third orbit with good earth. [xxi] Shades of gray pose questions that must be answered. [xxii] Mysterious knowing stirs in me. [xxiii] Like graceful mammal of the sea, I dive and break through surface to find purpose. [xxiv] Molecules make a masterpiece that morphs into something more than body. [xxv] Invisible yearning for heaven’s home yields its desire for greater good. [xxvi] Propelled toward hope, I become spectrum of possibility. [xxvii] Unable to remain stuck and still, soul stirs world around me.[xxviii] There are things to look for in this life. [xxix] No ballerina, yet I move to nature’s rhythm that says it is not time to die. [xxx] God has carried me this far and still I drift in safety of God’s care. [xxxi] You know you are why I am here, why I must go on sans fear. [xxxii] At rest in love’s requisite belief, I mark the time, wait for your crossing. [xxxiii] Faith, hope and love... these three remain.