Keys to the Pigeonhole

Once I dreamed of worlds on fire
And when I woke I saw
A thousand hells, a steepled pyre;
My soul I keep scrubbed raw.

Where are the chains I used to wrap myself in like a sweater?
Where’s my blue-collar noose?
Hell it contains and stifles all attempts to make things better;
Blinds you to life’s abuse.

Once I dreamed of wild boy packs
And once I woke I hunted
Haunted parks and summer larks
To hone again the blunted.

Where are the children who gave birth to dreams with every flicker?
Time to announce you’re here.
Mute the white noise; the earth belongs to those who heal the sick
Inside: I proclaim thee ‘seer’.

Once I dreamed of Eden wrecked
By thirst for truth and light.
Once I woke, the grand Elect
Had damned those bearing sight.

Where are the saints who once humiliated tyrants
With perspective and wit and bliss?
Where is the love that permeated ever operation?
When a breath was a kiss.

Once I dreamed of life I knew
That I would never sleep.
Energised by fear of waking death’s
Asthmatic creep.

Anchors dissolved I sank my teeth into the work ahead:
The death of complacency.
Mission resolved I laid a wreath against the body of
The nation that baited me.

Cowardice kills; so many travellers still buckle at
The glimpse of another route.
Each conquered hill presents a broader view; a vista:
A cell of the absolute.