War Postponed - No Clouds
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Howard ...
I wish I'd known you
But then ... maybe I DID
Choices, tastes, motivations, obsessions, demons
(Ah yes, demons ... with no damned respect for protocol)
Near perfect reflections of my own, finish-to-start
Like fate put flesh on a hanger for tomorrow
Pressed in cellophane with a number tag
Every bit I've learned and heard
Leaves me with a shaking head
For it is as familiar as my own, unsullied
They thought you strange ... hermit, recluse
But that was pain, nothing less or more
The dark revenant that blooms in suffering's shadow
They never wore your shoes, but tongues wagged just the same
I know it all ... the endless thoughts, spinning
No quiet, even in your own head ... even in dreams
The same torturing self-analysis and fault
Nerves afire, aching for relief
The horrid sickness of body and mind that replaces it ... forever
I do not envy you your sorrowful, lonely end in the least
But I DO begrudge you your fate, ultimate
For the spinning has stopped ...
Mine ... goes on.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2019
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