Up in Smoke

It's all going up in smoke, you know

Your dreams.  Your hopes.

That smell you smell?  That's your future

Burning

That feeling you feel?  That's what possibilities

                Wasted

Feel like.

 

That cloud circling over your head

Has questions in it

But you don't have to ask them

Because they're all a part of the haze

                Can I do it?  Can I be it?

                Can I face my fears and win?

You don't have to answer

Because inside that swirling cloud

It just doesn't matter.

You can just be.

 

I know.  The world looks soft and yellow.

Borrowed sunshine.

...Lies. 

 

But when the smoke clears

Questions fall on your head like lightening on an open plain

Time doesn't wait.  Time doesn't care. 

It devours you.

 

Hiding behind a leaf won't stop the lion.

He'll eat you, you know.  One.  Bite.  At.  A. Time.

Until there's no good parts left.

 

Do something.  Pick up a stick and swing,

Or wrestle him to the ground and tame him.

You could walk beside him and own the world

There are valleys out there.  But there are mountains, too

Majestic.

 

It's a beautiful world, you know

When the smoke clears

And you can finally see it.

 

Reviews

[G. H. Ivanovic]

I can truly relate to this beautiful poem.
It has a wonderful flow and gives life to the fears I think we all share.
The "One. Bite. At. A. Time." part didn't feel as smooth in my opinion, but it is totally subjective.

Overall, very good.

[KWP]

I agree with your friends about the book and I wonder how this would look written as a paragraph instead of poetry style down the page? I like it but it does sound very much like a narrative X

[M P Ramesh]

lisa,
Nothing can be so unpleasant than a creation bereft of vision
this creation has surpassed the so called challenge

carry on....


M P Ramesh

[Lisa]

Thanks for your comments!

[Uche Paul]

What a "proverbial poem"! Unique... Sul generis

[Lisa]

Thank you for commenting!