Churning the turquoise lake of memories
Each tear a star, a fallen story
From the seeing skies
Of weeping sorrows
The dark chasm of loneliness drops
The edge of the world looms
He waves, a whisper of air
I see him no more
I wear his shoes
And tread the grassy plains where I used to frolic with Imagination
Where we used to avoid the rocks that jut out
Rocks placed carefully by Mendacious Inspiration
Now I tread on them and tear his shoes to shreds
My feet bleed like broken promises
In the distance the sun sinks and the moon comes up to light the morning
Birds don't heed the humans' need for repeated chronological structure
Coming and going as they please
They add to the ruckus that are my insecurities
Hills roll like my shoulders as I try to straighten
Unable to align a back that has been overloaded with fears
Fears that attack from all sides and angles
For we are all donkeys carrying loads
Some loads are light as the leaf of the aspen tree
The one I sit under as I count my woes and lose track of them
In the rings of old stumps nearby
The other loads are the crushing pressure of being underwater for too long and I let go
My breath bubbles out in front of me
Tangible like the smoky tendrils on a cold day
Floating to the surface facedown I try to tread water but sink
For bodies that are 70% water this one only seems to be made of cookie dough
As I sink I watch the schools of fish
Separated into their different sects
Behaving as they have been pre-determined to
A shark carries me to the usual place
We pass lairs of those who have made their pact with Solitude
Loneliness awaits me at the start of the tribe of the Chief Current
I renew my application as Loneliness's heir and the Chief sends me rushing to the surface
Where I will sit and watch the turquoise sky
Where I will collect my tears in order to breath on them
So they can float to become stars
And fall once more
