The Muck And The Mire

 

All the muck and the mire

that can smother the shoes

with the fear of discovery

of ones most hidden truths

make for slogging and plodding

while the mind remains harried

by a lifetime of quicksand

from the weight it has carried

 

The pendulum of compensation

swings out wide to and fro

yet the arguments are senseless

for they have nowhere to go

and there’s no one to grasp

what only one soul has seen

no one else in the world

has ever been where it’s been

 

All the cries and denials

silent pleas for understanding

sit refuted and muted

in a dark pile with no landing

from the gashes and crashes

protected by angry defenses

despair evolves into numbness

to ease its assault on the senses

 

The long journey is arduous

revisiting each and every past street

where the muck and the mire

attempt to anchor defeat

you’re one particle of light

seeking one drop in the ocean

and it’s all the spark needed

to free your soul into motion

 

 

                       s. paul (sept 2021)