Mind Echo

By Cliff Lake

 

Mind Echo

 

The difference between what I want and what I am.

The place between what I know, and I haven’t read.

The sound of the things I allow to be heard,

And those I don’t.

The smell of the rot I will not see.

The glare of the things known I close my eyes to.

 

These guide my steps, my stumble.

Do not see me fall –

I have not fallen.

 

The bruises of mistakes I will not remember.

The cracks in the shield I do not admit.

The tears I do not tell,

And will not cry again.

The feel of caresses unnatural, sought in earnest.

The tales of the unheard and left behind.

 

These my unsteady foundation, my leaking hull.

Do not see me fall –

I have not fallen.

 

Where on this rock is my rest?

Where is the void I cannot fill?

Where is the screaming banshee I hear always?

Where is the echo to my own?

 

The shatters of promises I did not keep.

The failures of plans untried.

The dreams I did not reach for,

And dream still.

The places I never inhabit, though there I stand.

The people I could have been and turned my back on.

 

These are the whispers behind the nightmares.

Do not see me fall –

I have not fallen.

 

Where on this rock is my rest?

Where is the void I cannot fill?

Where is the screaming banshee I hear always?

Where is the echo to my own?

 

Cliff Lake 12/3/2022

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2022

Location: Dalton, MA, USA

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