survive.

heard a man speak this evening.
a man comfortable with beasts.
a man at home with monsters.

he told me a story about the truths of ugliness.


told me a story.
told me about annihilation.

how it's cold breath touched his skin.



and he told me,
with a smile,

that he was still here.

told me a story.
about a cave.

one so hollow and full of blackness
light didn't dare visit.
for it could not endure.

and he told me,
with a smile,

he climbed through and burst a hole where
light may dwell.


he looked at me,
in my eyes.
those dark pools of sin.

and said,
you're not nearly as tough as you may think you are.

that weight will turn your bones to brittle.
and skin to ash.






to get  up and move  about with pain.
that is surviving.

to move about with a smile on your face, he said,
that is living.

Reviews

[jenniewren (J.W. Bouwma..]

those four lines at the end are the utter truth. and something only the people who experience real adversity know