A Thousand Miles To Jericho Poem by Thoughts of a Single Man

The desert stretches before me

like a blanket of burning sand

my feet leave their prints in the shifting tides

as I move throughout the rivers of grain and earth

Lord why hast thou forsaken me?

have I not done well in this cherished thing called life

tell me of the words of the testament of old

heal me of my decaying faith

shield me from their wicked ways

these the disciples of the cloven hoof

I have fallen from the stars of your heaven

my wings burning in my decent

the path has been forked and I have strayed

but I seek now the connection lost

for I have been trapped too long

behind these walls of ice and frost

lost in the strangling burden of my weighted sins

gnawing at me

devouring my soul from within

the stones have been cast as the glass house shattered

and the shards cut my flesh in their cascading shimmer

I am so tired and so very weary

are You near me?

do You still hear me?

no tears shed as my own screams echo

in the winding valleys of my broken dreams

that dance within my hanging head

I press on

under the beaming glow of the churning sun

the fog clouds the mind and the vision becomes unclear

the mirage of deceit and trickery

cast shadows on the eyes of the holy

each step is a struggle

as my feet seem to sink deeper with each move

but I keep going on

for I must be strong

thy will be done from here to kingdom come

let me lay my head down next to the riverside

under the sweet breeze that bend the leaves of the palms

tell me of the Exodus and the Psalms

let my raging heart lay still and calm

claim me in thy breast once more

for am I not still your child?

let me escape

flee from the wild of the denigration of the city streets

the turmoil of the rattler's shake

the serpents that are coiled

beckoning me to bite the symbolic apple so ripe

so I shall too be cast from Eden's garden

bless me now in thy humble touch

for my spirit has bled so much

branded by names of the cursed

leaving me the social outcast in the churning sea of faces

dodging an assembling of smiles of concealed hidden fangs

but I have my own brand of poison is within my veins

an at times I have forgot my name

my wishes and my gifts as the sand still shifts

storming now

blinding me beyond the mere metaphor of written phrase

blisters riddle my searing skin

like the future dots of my coming age

but I press on

crawling, moving forward in silent agony

yet accompanied by insightful rations

for the dilemmas holds fast

in the blurring whirring years that have passed

I should have been on my knees all along

let me sing thy song

give my words to the word like a flag unfurled

and hold me in thy arms once more

I implore you

guide me from the abyss of brimstone

let the gates that await be housed in gold

jot my name upon thy ledger

bless me with your loving kiss

show my of this tale called bliss

my head pounds

like the hammer of the Norse legend of mythology

an ideology is a paradise still within proximity

without diversion and linear in it's symmetry

for my eyes water, stinging my gaze

let me turn the page and write the next chapter anew

tell me this is not the end

and let me breathe again

find the purpose in my pen

and the angelic clarity

of something more that just a wayward friend

mend me, blend me, in thy synergy

give this aching body restored energy

tell me oh Lord that I am not alone

let me ride the carpet of my intentions

where love springs full in the bosom of a man deserted

as he finds his way home

for this pain siphons the nectar of my bones

take me there

tell me I am near

hear the whispers of my silent prayer

I press on

for I still have a ways to go

the tortoise of the good nature matured

with cracks deep within his tortured shell

steady and slow

for I know it is still there in front of me

and still to be within my grasp

the bobble dangling before me spinning in it's sacred glow

as I press on

for the way seems so very so long for me

as if it was a thousand miles to Jericho

Thoughts of a Single Man 2012 tm