I can now say I know you
[a poem by Sha'Tara]
Yes, I can now say without prevarication
that I know you, oh so well.
Not that anyone will believe me
but what matters, since you know, don't you?
But do I care now that you know I came
because I needed to see your face?
Go ahead, ask me, ask me—ask me!
I heard your voice deep in a distant night
and how I tried to ignore that Siren call
and what you asked of me and promised me
but I never managed it. I listened.
Intrigued. And your voice seduced me
destroying any hope I'd have
of a life of peace and comfort among others.
So early on I planned to follow:
studied maps and trained and packed
until nothing remained to hold back
and that certain day came, demanded
I step outside, test the air, take a deep breath
then turn and close the door gently but firmly
unto that so uncomfortable past.
I crossed a churning, stormy sea
though only a child then, not fully aware,
followed frozen steel rails stretching
across a measureless horizon of endless plains
in empty and frozen desolation
to a place that held me prisoner for a time.
I finally broke free and reached the mountains
where blue fire shot from ice carvings
exposed by thundering avalanches;
tree line sentinels raised skeleton arms
to uphold a giant ball of glowing ochre
painfully hanging in deep purple skies.
Winds moaned and keened, mimicking
the cries of the ever-damned
among rising, jutting crags—damn the mountains—
was it your voice, your teasing voice?
no matter, turning back no longer an option
with numbed toes and frost-bitten fingers
I grabbed frozen ledges, clung to crumbling rock
and dared to look down into the pits of hell.
I made it over your mountains
and down to the sea again,
though weak of eyes and white of hair
and what a trickster you turned out to be
you voice of wind and water and time:
... did I ever actually see your face?
But of course, for down by the shore
in an old fisherman's shack
across from its single broken window
there hung your mirror of disillusionment.
This is an awesome piece of work. The last paragraph is wonderful!!
Micki
Fantastic write, as always. You write so beautifully. Hugs
Mary
Joy L. Hale
You got me with this one. I don't know exactly what it means but it sure is meaningful! Let me guessa man's quest for success and how it so often ends in failure.
Compared to your other poetry, this one stands out like a genius.
Ron