Wandering
By Peter Scott
The mirror is severe
Accentuating a physical imbalance
From the mind
I stare at the image
Contemplating why
Silent spasms
Cause me to falter
Where yesterday I was vibrant
Havoc in the reflection
Metamorphoses to my spirit’s curator
Memories of the past flash
Clash with sudden hate in my smile
Time of the future
And those long ago
Deteriorating into a single display
Darkening in unison
To the bells far distant
My face in the mirror
Is slightly perturbed
With questions I ask
A stone wall in December
Playing with my feet
Head in acknowledgement
Of my crime’s recognized nature
White sprinkles float from the heavens
As I wait by the wall
Gray and charred
New for all purposes great
Dressed for temperance
The chill permeates
Defying my preparation
Standing under and in front
Of the stone
Covered in the advent of winter
I taste my new cloak
Frozen I do not comprehend
If it is acid
Cream&sugar
Or the salt I met before
In a previous journey
Held in a different season
Upon this very land
Brushing the substance now concealing my barrier
I talk in silence to it
Ask for comfort
Leaving a hollow remains
The challenges of reality
Resonating with vibrant cord
Shuttling me back to my reflection
Away and afar
From a destructive grave
Pressures they say
Ought to find shelter in release
Yet when I moved
Created distance between my perils
The steam did evaporate
Exposing the hollow cavities
How alone I was
And am
Wrapped in cellophane with a sticker
Brittle
Hollow
Described as ninety-eight percent chocolate
Only a dollar eighty-nine
Little girls pass by me in the store
Lick their lips
Pleading with Mommy
Or even Daddy...
Who always gives in
A child’s dream
I am easily bought
At home I am opened
Given fresh life in the night air
So sweet am I
They savor my taste
Texture of a rich quality
Taunting themselves and me
Until it is too late
A final push...
And release...
I am back at my store
Undesired in continual craftsmanship
Too sweet for the little girls
Sucking lollipops and red bubble gum
Repackaged in higher grandiloquence
Clerks hide the little nibbles
Ask themselves
Why I do not satisfy?
Oh
There will come a buyer this next day
Suppressing the urge
To voice my anger
Separated now
It takes an act of will
To love your true self
Empathy held strong
But I hear your insane laugh
Eyes mocking with vehement vindictive malice
Used
False tears shed
To let my emotions slide
From your back
Down a spiraling well
Never to be observed again
I’m in that canyon
Where I once was before
I will never let you abuse
So while contemplating with elaborate test
The hole will vanish with spite
Love do justice
Never gall like that!
If you ask “Yes”
I state with solemn rejection
The trial lies forth
Away from mere curiosity
Commitment does not derive
In severed segments
I won’t sit as puppet
Eating your cake
Choose if I’m real
...Or nightmare roaming distant planes.
