Fjords of the Belt
by Odin Roark

How gently the nail carves
this first notch
this playground conquest
giving Johnny G second thoughts
now I am King Mumbly-peg

Later

Journeys
across thespian-teen battlefields
Shakespearean words cross swords
with gang-spawned tempests
graffiti tattoos
smearing posters
doing little to dampen accolades
turned notches

Even later

Ambition ushers in
married life to work
work to married life
pleasures under fire
defeat no option
capture off the table
retreat no escape

Now...

Maturity hangs mindful
this belt now upon the wall
prompting further journeys
where triumph sees beyond the now
understands rejoicing sans conquest
bears witness the attrition

Life's chiasmic sculpture
merging tributaries long past
into fjords giving way
to reborn arroyos
verves of cyclic wonder

once more