Touch of the Soul

I alone stand vigil over the memories of my past; I alone feel the weight of them, feel what it is to be the man that past has created. I stand, alone, beneath the stars and the moon, contemplating all, as I ever have done; it is only now that I've accepted that's who I am meant to be; the writer, the poet – I stand with the rest of the dreamers. I sit, alone, among the instruments of music, playing on and on throughout my life; music flows into and through my soul, and I am now and will always be, the musician and the bard – I sit with the rest of the drummers. I travel, alone, with the remembrances of love, searching always for that one true other; it is only now that I've accepted that even without one such, I can live; the romantic, the sentimental – I travel with the rest of the passionate. I escape, alone, in the pages of a good story, reading for ever and anon; books speak to me, engage me, entertain me, release me; the storyteller and the listener – I escape with the rest of the readers. I will fight, never alone, next to my brothers and sisters in arms; it is with all of myself that I've accepted my duty, and who I will always be; the soldier, the guardian – I will fight with the rest of the Marines. I dance, run, walk, laugh, alone, in the rain, let loose my being in the deluge; the storm's fury and glory somehow become my own; the drenched, the soaked – I do all of this with the rest of the rain lovers. It is only now that I've accepted that I have become who I was meant to be; who I want myself to be. I alone know what it is to be myself, Andrew James Sprouse, scion of the sea and of the past, of the word and the sword. But I do not alone know what it is to feel alive; to be exactly who you are, who you're meant to be. I do not alone know the truth of pain. None of us stands truly and utterly alone. Every single one of us walks, arm in arm, with those who share your experiences, your beliefs, your thoughts and your lives. But you, alone, know what makes your heart free, what makes your fire ignite and your essence true; you alone know the visage and touch of your soul.