Blink Poem by Chris Schleier, Jr.

How much can the only heart take
when love and life combine,

When solitude and misery
are compliments entwined?

A needle here, a dagger there
will pierce the pumping soul,

But take a spear, by sight or ear,
and it could drive

the fatal blow.

Protect the precious, naked heart
from the manipulating mind:

the killer of the good in men
who stabs you from behind.

The mind can work to its dismay
not even half the present day.

The twisted traitor of a man
will do its deeds with blinks at hand,

and as you draw the veil of dark,
it wields the pains within your life,

the suffering, the loss, the strife
and throws them at you heart.

Surrender fewer counts today,
to send you heart the shears.

Rely, not on the black today,
but on the brightness of your years.

See the beauty in your life
the color, rhythm, song

and hold that sight without the fears
of puncturing the heart.

For I say trust, that when you must,

blink.

And as you yield, you raise a shield

which blocks the centered love

from the rusty needles, knives, and spears

which plummet from above.