this wretched skin
it holds me in
I'm imprisoned
something in my head
keeps telling me
I must break out
something in my mind
keeps reminding me
I must hold it all in
all these clustered thoughts
mustering space
driving me closer
to the viral edge
one spiral day
every moral word
I think
some night
those dreaming streams
where I kneel
bow down to drink
suddenly the earth
beneath my feet
virtually opens up
a vast gap
lastly drags me down
deep into some profound pit
my crazed mind
sarcastically omits
that searing fiery part
right from the start
I know it's all true
this earth is green
above us
the sky is blue
my soul is burning
my heart is yearning
right from the start
I know it's you
I'm searching for an answer
wondering where bliss lives
I've climbed Rapunzel's bower
wanting to uncage that song bird she keeps
once I'd climbed that tower
I was captured by Rapunzel's mirror
as I stood still and stared
my reflection troubled me
I stood there
fully feathered and aware
plumed by rays of venerable light
breathing in both day and night
swallowing all that veneration
in that adoring moment
I gathered up every part of me
envisioning my life retrospectively
if a sacred dream visits me
telling me I must not weep
patiently reminding me
eventually my scattered mind
will grasp my tattered soul
once again I'll become whole
reach fraternal eternity
where I'll consciously rest
and blissfully sleep

                * * *