10. Arms Like Anchors
I always said "we" in reassurance
As if there were inhabitants,
Or an ever-peering audience
I guess I half-suspected
You were witnessing and listening
To me discover every puzzle piece
Now I see; it's about time we meet
After all those days in retrograde
It feels nice to be spinning straight
I am sure you're, too, enthused
But as we exit from those traveled years
Where do you suggest we go from here?
You always said I wasn't worth it
All the work I spent building our core
Would always at least an atom short
And all the seeds I delicately planted
May as well just wilt away
(They'll never reflect the light of day)
And to think! I was believing
That smug fog on my inner lens
You breathed to occlude-
-Hey, may I interject? You seem stressed
Your muscles feel all tight and tense
So I'll suggest to you that you should stretch
Bend at the waist
Lower our arms
Use them as weights
So here I rest as I'm encompassed
In the warmth of friends from far away
And light bleeding from the window pane
I gaze at the path behind me
It looks so much greener than
The earth I first traversed and tracked
And all the songs I chose to sing
Are still heard swelling endlessly,
Still enchanting with their melodies
And I feel whole; and only half afraid
So you ungrateful, incessant pest,
It's my turn to speak, you may not interject!
Your arms dragged us through the sand
Then you jammed us in that trench,
Ashamed of your insignificance
I promise you I've shown you my best
And although I've lived this long,
I'm not done living quite yet
I don't think I am something
That the sun will eclipse
When I'm hidden behind walls
Constructed by others' wrists
And I don't think I am clever
I'm just a voice that retorts
As I'm swallowed by the flood
And the waves that I ignore
When I left the attic empty-handed
I shook all my dreams awake
All my joints have cracked and rusted
There's no use to run away
As dusk rears its head
On its long body of night
It's abundantly clear soon
There will be no more lights
So I wish I had your answers
Or had some advice to give
But how could I impart wisdom
When I don't even know how long I've got to live?