Whispers seep through too thin walls,
conspire to deny repose.
Words unspoken still are heard,
disparaging the pilgrim’s journey from a darker world,
increasing isolation and his distance from a lost first love.
Dreamlike visions flash and swirl despite the brightness of the room,
conjure confusion,
obscure the light that filters through the shutters
binding him in unseen chains
forged from tattered suits and frozen phones
recalling offices above a grand line’s end.
Fears of further loss entwine with anger unprovoked
derived from painful days
and sleepless nights upon a leather couch
before a plain of warriors on horseback
and shepherds from a mountain realm.
And still She watches.

Long, crowded avenues and boulevards,
where he walked past pinnacles and urban celebrations,
narrow and become steep, winding streets as in a lonely dream
that wanes and deepens
refusing to release his spirit from its grip.
And still he walks.
Is She enslaved or is it he?
Where lies comfort and release from cold captivity?
Which path leads to him to Her warm embrace again?
Which way acceptance of a life transformed?
The turbulence of life is in the convolution of ephemera.

Inspirations springing from convergence
of transitory offerings and gossamer denials
drive him forward, stop bold tracks,
trap the pilgrim in drab quarters
near devotees of an ancient prophet of another rite.
Obligations springing from convergence
of the transitory joys and disappointments
hold Her back, embolden Her
lead together, lead apart.
Inspirations springing from convergence
of transitory insights and illusions
call forth passions, call back fears
dispel the mists that hide Her from his sight.
Which way to turn?
And why?

Mysteries of life, the confluence of ephemera,
flowing as two rivers in a single bed,
enchant him –
One muddied by impossible intentions
by celebrated loves now lost.
by promises not kept, but still recalled;
The other blue and clear, yet not innocent
transforming ancient, fading images
seen through golden eyes
from the clouds above Her Julian spire near the stars
to new visions viewed from higher snowy peaks.
They touch and slowly mingle on their path past urban arch,
through enchanted desert
to meld in forest on their sunset journey to the western sea.

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