Unfurling

You got to walk that lonesome valley
Well, you got to walk it for yourself
Ain't nobody here, can walk it for you
You got to walk that valley for yourself
~ Mississippi John Hurt
 
Unfurling

There are chains and they stain the soup
of the soul with an inward contempt.
There is nothing to be done for this.
Chain the curtains, bar the door,
Of course you could reminisce
on ways to save the soul, but the bother
makes insomnia and the heart wretched -
Just try to forget it.

Life is a roar of secrets and double dealings.
It takes the paramour of vanity in a death grip
We simply cannot leave here unwounded or fresh.

Sometimes we lift upward with the smell of cut grass
I believe we are wings struggling with gravity
in a crown of valiant sunflowers as we charge
against the forces of evil in a cape that ushers
love and honor into a harbor
They are hard to hold

We are as beautiful as butterflies
We are granite strength in a fling at love
And yes! we are often strong with pure goodness.
There are a million explanations for regret-
the way our eyes meet in a final moment
and it is too late to try harder, too late to forget.
Love is our only distinction,
compassion our finest hour -
Regret drains the nobility
of what we might yet dare

Reviews

[Amanda Lee/ Isolated Dr..]

I can't describe the way this poem speaks to me.
Thank you for finding such words.

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

Your words have inspired me in a way I cant describe.
It captures every aspect of being human. I love it.
You write with all your heart and soul

[icaros13]

I have yet to read one of your poems I don't just love. You, my dear, are a wordsmith.

[Ed Hart]

it's hard to tell what's going on in this scrambled life of ours, but here we are...out of the pureness of nothing, here we blessedly are

[Chris]

You started with a song I remembered well... and touched "life" in ways that NEED be remembered still.

Well done.

[W.k.kortas]

There is the cosmic struggle between hope and despair, the uplifting and redemptive power of love, and all in thirty-ish lines. As powerful as all of that the piece wrestles with.

[Donald Meikle]

To look back without regret is a goal I strive for.
There are others but none as important.
The best part is I'm not alone.

[roarke]

BAM! The last four lines are killer. It is what should be tattooed on every new born'f forehead where every day they can read it.

This is a masterpiece of a write, the kind that takes an entire lifetime to compose. Thank you for giving it so freely here.
Fantastic piece.