What I've Been

I've been all of these things...

I’ve been the sun,

Stretching my limbs so that my rays could dance upon the dirt,

Warm the flesh of souls when they shiver,

Light the roads paved in darkness beneath me,

The song of my warm strength like the womb of a mother,

Giving birth to leaves as they blossom from a trees branch.

 

I’ve been a wave,

Heart pulled by the tide,

Rising and falling subject to the moons shine,

Crashing as soon as it stands,

Drowning the innocent in my waters rage,

As my eyes watch the mountains,

Sturdy like walls and able to see through every shadow,

Watching over the world when night falls.

 

I’ve been a bird,

Rising with the sun to sing my song,

Smiling from freedom as my heart leads my flight,

Resting my eyes on every sublime sight painted on these lands-

But feeling alone, empty from no home,

Nest destroyed by the winds of winter.

While I was such a mighty creature in the sky,

When my feet stepped upon soil,

 I could feel the beat of every creature’s heart that stood in the dirt

And though their sorrow struck me like the kiss of death,

I found that I could not open up to these feelings that were thrust upon me,

So I’d take flight, hiding in the corners of the night’s sky.

 

I’ve been a tree,

Barked by wisdom and branching with change

Roots resting deep into the ground

Strong but chained

Heart drained from my static pace

While my tongue would taste the breeze as it blew by me,

Dreaming of what it had done,

Of the fields it had frolicked through, of the seas it had swam.

 

I’ve been the last breath of a dying man,

As it parts from his throat, kissed by his soul

Cold with mourning life lost,

No lungs to warm me, no lips to dance with,

But painted with the beauty of emotions that death dressed me,

Wearing the essence that man chose to be

As the color of his cheeks faded like a sinking sun.

The echo of his parting whisper like a fading light,

Losing its glow to the coming of night.

 

I’ve been love,

Fierce flames soothing the skin of lovers,

Reflected in the passion in their eyes,

But the sensuous fire has died,

Leaving lovers alone to drown in the tides of night,

Vivid heat that once shined is soon a burn log,

Stained in the charcoal of hate,

Smoking with uncertainty and hope,

But not enough strength to ignite a spark,

Left in the dark to peck the lips of memories.

 

Each experience was sketched in shades of dark and light,

Each song I sang brought me sailing in a new bay

To step into the sand and explore a new map,

But the thing I’ve never been,

The thing of which I find my soul longing for,

Is to be the wind.

To feel warmth whether the light be dim or blinding,

To rustle leaves, smiling from the music of the beat.

To be free and alone, but still be with my fellow souls

As my graze cools their body, and they breathe me in.

I could climb every mountain, fly in every sky,

Because my heart would not beat with the tick and the tock

That dance from nature’s clock,

My heart would beat with the whispers of my soul

And the whistling of my winding would sing who I am.