From Boy To Man

In time was once

A youthful man

Who raised his love

With tender hands

But love can die

In drudging style

As children spurn

Their shattered dreams.

Whilst lust withholds

A strangled whim

That tore through souls

And tortured him

He yearned & ached

For wanton things

Yet lost his life

In search of thee.

–

History speaks

Of journeys past

And those who walk

A lonely path

And as the moon

Is led away

Enslaved by dawn

This waking day

He looks out far

Across the blue

In thought of times

He doubted you.

–

The sun bore down

On ragged cliffs

As grass turned brown

In shaded crags

And winds tore through

His withered bones

As dryness scorched

His ravaged lips.

Gulls that cried

& rode the breeze

And tears that spat

On fallen leaves

On sodden ground

Which once was green

Friends spoke words

That drove him on

–

As light seeps in

& journeys far

Through open mouth

Beyond the depths

It travels down

To hold the root

Of ravaged doubts

And masked regrets.

Whilst friends would lead

Their merry lives

You looked beyond

Your loving wife

And spat a taste

Of foul disease

That sneered at life

And all you see.

–

Now as you stand

Upon this cliff

And count the flags

That gently bob

That mark the traps

Ensnared by Man

For those who trace

Their lobster pots

A chilling breeze

Will wake a tree

That stirs & drops

Its weary leaves

A voice is hushed

But fraught in tones

From boy to man

You walk alone.