Floating on a pristine lake
Sobbing,
“I’m thirsty”
How can anyone quench
A need like this?
Set up an IV
But the
Veins are frozen
Solid.
Breaking all the keys,
Chaining the body up and barricading
The door, and then
Pleading,
“Set me free!”
What can be done?
I call on the locksmith
Who informs me that you told him
He’s not welcome here.
A starving ox lies down in
An orchard,
The fragrance of a thousand
Perfectly ripe fruits
Hanging out their invitation
And quietly smiling
Dances on the palate;
She’s unable to accept
Any of it.
Perhaps all of these beloved
Friends, made a poor choice of
Companion, when they asked
The sage to join them.
A willow can only bend
So far
In the gale, before the roots
Come undone.
Perhaps you could have built
Your home
Under an ancient oak instead.
“You didn’t rescue me!”
They protest,
The tender holding and nurturing
Of the years
Lost
And washed away
In their flood of bitter tears.
“You didn’t push me!”
I confess
It’s true.
Please show me where
I agreed to?
The way of water flows down
To all the low places
To cleanse and refresh,
Wash them out.
There was never any need for pushing
Only
A raft of your own
Design.
“You didn’t feed me!”
Not for lack
Of trying,
My sweet.
The hunger you have
Lives inside you,
But not in your
Guts.
The orchard can delight the senses but,
The nourishment we all need
Also lives inside us
And satisfies
Deeply
Only when it
Comes out.
I say this to myself:
All that I need
All that I could long for
Exists within
My body.
Why work so hard
And search
So far and wide,
When I can just reach inside,
Unlock the door,
And set myself
Free?
But what of those who need
To be needed?
Enable their actions,
Weaken yourself,
And prolong their suffering,
Softening all the sharp edges,
For a while.
Eventually the opiate required
To satisfy the craving
Is enough
To kill.
Only a true friend can
Walk away
Crying,
Explaining,
Enough.
Enough.
Enough.
Farewell, beloved.
