There are times when I feel like a volcano
yearning to erupt to heavenly heights
Surging forces swelling within,
seeking a way to break free
Then I realize I am extinct

There are times when I feel like a prisoner
Hands tied, legs bound and mouth gagged
Screaming within the depth of my soul to escape
Then I realize I am my own prison

There are times when I feel like an abandoned child in a hostile land,
Starved, depleted, wretched and distraught,
pleading within for a human gesture to ease the pain
Then I realize I am a grown man in a stone-hearted world

But then there are times when the glittering rays at daybreak
caress my forehead as a mother her newborn child
These are precious times indeed
They soothe and console
but are scarce and ephemeral
They exist only in the realm of dreams

Apart from the unknown forgotten souls who have struggled so long, so hard - but in vain - for Love,
No-one is as drugged, drunken and intoxicated with longing as I






© William Bratton, All rights reserved