i: owing people something
the walls are aflame,
tongues of fire lighting the scene
light framed by shadows,
and the ground hard and
hollow beneath my feet
in crowds of people I do not know
who will not let me in-
I lose sight of my way,
adrift in an ocean of unfamiliar faces
and senseless laughter.
ii: crown
the trees on the roadside
stand tall and straight
not brown but merely grey;
stretching into bouquets of leaves.
when I pass them again in autumn
they are burnt, blackened ash
too many years
gone in a fortnight.
iii: different surroundings
the ability to adjust is amazing-
I cannot number the times where
I have found myself at a lost why
my vision is not upside-down;
why there is ground beneath
my feet instead of air.
iv: effort
I think-
I think I tried too hard
and that scared her away.
v: what there are
there may be castles hidden
in the clouds;
the way there may be something
hidden within
the pinpricks of light at night.
vi: lost
one night
I found my courage
on the bedside table,
sitting there and it looked
at me with wide eyes and asked
"where are you going?"
