Promises

A poem

This is the first poem I have published paired with art in collaboration with another artist. Dominique Jahn writes Sounds of a Gong…and with this tagline (Occasionally diplomatic zirconium in the rough delivering perceptions like pizzas) and this art, I vote More Please! You can check out Sounds of a Gong here.

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Promises

Promises, art by Dominique Jahn

So long the wait. 

You do not have the faintest memory
of what vibrant is,
your mind obscured and murky gray,
midnight blacks are your noon
and brown is the field you walk through,
bare feet through deep cold
and not sinking
only because you continue.

There is no easier path
that leads from this trudge point.
Your choice was to come this way,
but this way 
was not supposed to be
this way.

A promise was promised to you.
An expansive ever blue,
a clear horizon to move towards,
a soft field of wildflowers,
bird song and beauty.
You chose this 
way of ease and circumstance,
not the fearsome forest climb 
with a horizon
shrouded by switchbacks,
boulders and difficulty.

The truth beneath your gaze,
circumstance swept away by circumstance

swept away by circumstance.

This is what
the promiser refused, 
this hot coal
that slipped through their fingers,
you cradle in the middle of your overlayed palms.
It burns you something terrible, 
tears come to your eyes,
eyes that gaze deep into the shimmering glow,
tears that pour and turn to steam,
eyes closed that peer inward
and see life-giving warmth
permeating from your hands throughout your being,
your hands, your chest, your feet,
and your blown open mind.

With eyes open
you watch that fierce ember burn orange 
to red to black
and place it softly in the field
by the first 
fire-yellow crocus
of spring.

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment about what strikes you, speaks to you, or stirs in you while you read the poem or reflect on the art. I look forward to whatever dialogue happens here, and within a week I will be following up with a Reflection post on how this poem emerged into being.

Brian

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Promises is the poem that was referenced in The Hunt. You can revisit that poem here.

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