by K. J. Tesar
The weight of the past
A heavy load
His only friend, his knife
A mystic bond
The stream of his thoughts
His only conversation
Where once kindness flourished
Now lived distrust
The sacred vow broken
His only fault
A distant life, borne only in memories
Fragments clinging
Through everything he still walked tall
Survival his only victory
He longed for a sense of freedom
A release
No more could he be saved
The voices silenced
With difficult measure he advanced
Lost in uncertainty
No way forward, or back
An everlasting present
Condemned to this existence
This unkind life
When Evil Descends
You who were different, your face didn't match,
Someone was needed, to take the blame.
On the streets of hate, you were chosen,
Chased down, herded and beaten,
the trains were filled.
The savagery of man, unleashed on fellow man.
The crying of children, screams eternal,
the presence of fear.
Orders were barked, the dogs of war rabid,
The sign over the gates, those gates of work,
the work of death.
Thundering noise filled the air, confusion and dread.
The fires ablaze, black smoke billowed wild,
Spirits set free, flew back to their grace.
Those unchosen, doomed to yet worse,
to die too easy.
People no longer people, numbers not names,
Written in ink, etched on your arm.
The cruelty of man, the inglorious became kings,
kings born from hate.
The power in their hands, a weapon of war.
When all was finished, nobody had known,
What had been done in their name.
"This was not us, nor had we seen",
the blameless,
Hiding behind walls of shame.
A Life Fades
Colours flooded his senses, smells of places long since lost.
The ocean's waves crashing on the rocks,
Wild currents swirled in his mind.
The face in the mirror,
a person unknown,
Outlines of shapes, he reached out to touch.
Her face, blurred, lost to time,
The shape of her cheeks, her smile, her lips.
Where was she now, where had she gone?
This strange life,
this unknown existence,
Someone's life he found himself in.
The strange feel of objects, foreign in his hands,
Shapes invoking smells, forcing memories.
Rules he didn't understand governed his day,
His dreams,
his escape.
In his dreams she was there, smiling, welcoming.
The wind blew through his thoughts,
He could smell the sand.
Looking at the ground,
far below,
He saw his freedom.
As he flew through the sky, he could see her,
Waiting, sitting on the beach,
her arms outstretched.
A Journey Home
The small boat danced across the waves,
white and sleek.
Lost in serenity, the sweetness of the sun,
His mind adrift as the waves cut by.
Enticing smells enveloped him, thoughts of far off places,
A sense of peaceful beauty,
the crux of life.
Lost in his thoughts he had not seen,
The burgeoning wind, the threat from the sky.
A violent crash of the waves,
his languor broke,
The fury had him in its hold, a grip of fear.
Savage waves crashed over the hull,
Consumed with panic, he sought escape.
Convulsed by the immensity,
he knew he was lost.
The rain slashed his face,
Thoughts of his life, all not yet done.
Smashing glass cut his body,
his death written.
Devoured by the tumult, the boat succumbed.
Thrown by the waves he resisted no more,
he let his body free.
A warmth entered him, the fear released,
The sea was his home, if die he must,
there was no better way.
Consumed by the depths, a smile grew on his face,
His life merged with the water,
he had come home.
With my thanks
I hope I have given you some pleasure
K. J. Tesar