Eager Tourist

Take me with you

out into the world.

Deep under life’s canopy

I am choked by vines and vices.

Show me the open spaces of the world;

under a cleansing sun,

exposed to the wind and rain,

I’m sure I would find nourishment.

Out of this cold,

concrete casket.

Been so thirsty below;

the runoff in our gutters

cramps the stomach,

stabs the bowels.

Alone in our shaded indecipherable dark,

we devour each other.

Away between the dirt and sky,

immediate vastness

where anything can happen.

Plunge me into the oceans,

let their crystal blueness infect me

and bubble up through

spaces between the rocks,

clean as a mountain spring.

Guide me along paths and roads

of a human world

I do not know.

Following in the footsteps of kings and tyrants,

Christ and heathens.

Feed me the simplicity

of a world that grows

and dies.

Vibrant, then black;

instead of cloudy, grey smudge air,

smoke choking off life and living.

Just a mad cycle

without the beauty

in the world you could show me.

Come, take my hand

and lead on

while I still am able.

Guide me into the sun and storms,

for I am dying to live

and eager to learn.

 

HG – 1995-2000