Monday, October 30, 2006

I do not die

Must I go on forever without end
On this weary road I wend?
Silver streams and starry skies
Break with rocks and bitter lies

Sow my soul inside your flesh
Burn me whole or drink me fresh
I do not die despite these sores
I do not fall despite these wars

But must I go forever on this road
Fighting for what I am owed?
Straggling through the emptiness?
Vagabond and purposeless?

There is no balm in Gilead
There is no strength save what I had
And that was mine but is no more
Yet I relive what was before

Awake, but dreaming, I am blind
Sacred, screaming, far behind
Bury deep my wounded soul
Rake my breath across the coal

I do not die, despite the pain
I do not melt, despite the rain
I do not fall, despite the weight
I do not cry, despite my fate

The pyre is high that burns for me,
That kills my insincerity
They wish I’d go and ne’er return
But I do not die despite the burn.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

the last three verses, especially, are quite good.