A1

Retreat

an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable (Merriam-Webster)

A physical withdrawal dissatisfies you.
No one sees
     where I go
     where I am
Urges to escape the silent threats
     leaves me lonlely
     leaves you desperate
Our silence screams
Safety

Restlessly observing a stagnant drove
Youngsters complacently waddle as
Elders spike the pipes with bitterness
Resenting advancement and ambition.

Your dullness dissatisfies
Absence of desire disappoints
Concealed or forgotten
By a drivel of dust.

Have you ever felt like the yellow light of a traffic stop?
Where you exist but only because you are neither
A failure or success story?

Please stand up my fellow middle men
Women who are average
Those who are there

I want to know there are others
Caught in the middle of existence
Whose efforts are good but not great

I feel like lukewarm water
Not too cold and not too hot
A drink that neither satisfies nor dissatisfies

Where are all the other middle grounders?
Because I'm feeling all alone these days
Where are all those caught in purgatory?

Between glory and foggy haze.

How long will this stinging take
To wholly set in and metabolise
Search amongst muddy waters
Pursue a clearer compromise
I reach for you - Sulphur -
Find myself the gilded Fool
Iron makes a likely weapon;
Pyrite a lousy tool.

Yet you appear so indifferent
Or perhaps alike, otherwise
I wouldn’t hold my breath
Believe in worthwhile sacrifice
You may find me in the bush
Aflame before the Prophet
Plunge your poker in - spread thin -
My heart if you wish to stop it

Strike a match, test my metal
Will our souls still catalyse
Was his prediction correct
What the Alchemist surmised
Or has our time ran out
Have we reached our constant yet
How dastardly - equilibrium -
Were we pernicious when we met?

Is there any merit in looking
Back on methods - revised
Is there any hope now that
The chill has metastasised?
I would contact the Smith
If he could solder back - connection -
But our glow has dwindled now,
Without it there’s no resurrection.

Though I’m overcome - ravenous -
Your appetite dissatisfies
My belly runs on empty
Without you, comes my demise
Nears a cold stove
And the Chef, grown tired.
Farewell, my loving Sulphur.

Yours Truly,
a fading Fire…