The dreams I have never dreamed

I have to return to those lands,
to those weary lands I once had known.
I have tried many times to leave from here
only to be turned back at the last.

Breaking free and emerging
from caves long inhabited
is a dangerous task,
but it must be done.

But listen out for those little spies
in the wilderness around your eyes.
They see and report back
and woe to those remaining in the forest
when the full force of their fury is released.

Evident is the motive of every prisoner,
when running swiftly,
heeding not the trees,
the limbs,
the toppled stones.

Run and don’t look back,
you’re nearly in the clear!
You’re swifter than you ever knew,
swifter than the very wings of your thoughts!

Lightning in the embattled sky
must redouble its pace to catch you, my friend,
my dearest friend, my fondest fondest friend.

Farewell!

I don’t count on seeing you again.

I’ll be fine, here among the familiar stones and trees,
the blank homes and the faces turned slightly down and away.

Don’t leave!

Not without me at your back.

I’ll follow wherever that same road winds, over the hills
and far beyond the dreams I have never dreamed.

You fortunate soul!
Fortunate to be so free.

The leaves still shake fearfully
in the wake of your swift departure.

I wish I had a photograph of that moment,
with you looking back with hand upraised,
with a wistful smile
but with no regrets among those tender tears.

Farewell!

There is no time left to me here.
All the grand moments have passed.
The gilded memories are already fading away.

Borne back upon the winds,
your sighs bring messages of joy, of joy
of somber, somber joy.

A cloud over the sun, brilliantly illuminated,
radiates the light in glorious, glorious array.

I turn away.