The light bends away
fleetingly
I dare chase after
startled by my sorrow
reaching to grasp the elusive beam
instead
I’ve a fistful of fire
frustration
and feathers
charred
deep ebony plumage
my ears are scorched
by a coarsely blared caw
as in the corner of my eye
I glimpse
a flaming raven
spiraling wildly
plummeting toward earth
it’s caught
by the blinding rays
of a nocturnal dream
a nightmare
that is not my own
about a foreign land
in which I lived
before my birth
but have never visited
suddenly
the falling fiery figure
eyes blazing red
disappears
vanishing
into a gaping hole
opening in the earth
at that moment
flushed with the pangs
of debilitating uncertainty
I begin to sob
as the sun sets
on my future
and all my past sins
begin to repeat
in an endless loop
of sad surrender
my body shakes
convulsing
in the laughter
of madness
my mind
flooded with a lone thought
is ripping at my sanity
as my logic leaks out
and I lose altitude
screaming
“at least
I think
that was a raven”
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse