Stained
Glass
(Inspired
by "Windows")
'Twixt
distant dreams
and past regrets
the walls of pain are found.
Foreboding
barriers left standing
too long
too high
too deep into the night
Where
ghosts and demons
danced and twirled
...laughing...
As each brick was placed
one upon the other
Building
walls of silence
To quiet a screaming heart.
A heart...
who's
voice grew weak and raspy
Through time and tears,
able to speak only in verse...
of dreams and angels...
...sensed
but not seen
...felt but not touched
...sought but not found.
Hope
growing ever dim,
Once fiery and proud,
Reduced to ash and embers
amongst which I walked...
...Behind the walls,
Treading
painfully as my soul
was scorched and burned,
leaving tender scars
to serve as mortar for every brick.
And
there I remained,
Held captive and lost,
While I jousted with the demons,
Quill
against sword...
love against fear...
faith against death.
Yet a window remained.
Glass
stained by sweating palms,
by tear soaked cheek,
by dust and dirt
and soot from flames
that burned within
Unable
to escape
to warm the heart of another,
So left to consume only itself...
Feeding upon the refuse
of wasted time and wasted love
Until only a flicker remained.
A
small light casting great shadows
and one
small
luminance
against the glass...
A
reflected beacon of hope's eternal dream
Unquenched and unquenchable
slipping furtively through the window
and into the night.
As
a bottled note,
Cast on the oceans of time
Seeking one heart
one soul
one love
who
perchance might peer
through windows of her own.
For Sharon
I Love You
©
Alan W. Goodson
11/09/99
