The Shine
•
I sit
watch the flow of people
the shuffle of feet
with their different sounds
according to their shoes
I see wan faces
of unsmiling lips
their void curves denounce this night
yet unseen
is the gossamer curtain’s fall
that defines their soul’s duality
the divergent reality
through which truth stumbles blind
to move in the world
rough as a rope
taut as every promise made
frayed as wisdom
leaned in
whispered from behind
grab at time like dropped money
I might learn something tonight
if someone will release the light
so I can shine like a child
who likes ice cream most of all
this child reads old men’s minds
and notices the shoes
the belts all made of leather
I feel a shiver
of sad imbalance
a confliction in my soul
so I will watch the shoes
and practice non-attachment
because I can
but pieces of me
stick to whoever gets too close
you may have seen me
silhouetted against the sky
the coldest night in January
howling with the frozen moon
then moon and I sneak
through fate’s construct
among cages of studs & trusses
we run
from room to imaginary room
the whole world close enough to touch
we eat a midnight lunch
of damaged bread
seasoned by caution
and foreign lands
with onioned thoughts
layered deep
show mercy
peel back the layers
peel me away
thin by thin
skin by skin
to my quivering soul
I hope I am not ugly in your sight
these thoughts
become too heavy to hold
to tough to chew or swallow
my thoughts
bone-white lies of morality plays
open for you to peek
hope they are not ugly in your sight
hope they do not make you weep
as you peel back all the layers
onioned
thought
layers
held fast and firm
like a carapace
to which I’m stitched and welded
and can no more leave
than you can truly enter
they tie me down
sometimes
but sometimes barely so
inescapable optimism
in my barebones grin
flashes in the brittle moonlight
a stranger comes to where I sit
to see
his stare
blinds the stars from my eyes
behind his fey smile
his radar dreams
scan the forgotten creases
and clandestine getaways
in my mind
standing over
he peers down
with probing gaze
one of us will learn
a thing or two this night
• • •
rob kistner © 2009
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…photorendering entitled “Cornered” by: rob kistner © 2008