Us

This was about you and me, of course,
but I have veered off and included all
of us: family, friends, neighbors, city,
country and planet. Because no matter
how much I try to use your beauty to
shelter me from the ugliness I witness daily,
I still can’t avoid it.

I want to be locked up
somewhere with you for eternity listening,
touching and breathing you in, but reality
always creeps in and destroys my wish.
I am desperately searching for a raison d'être,
because my mind cannot grasp you are able
to exist with the rest of us, I see it as utter madness,
but maybe that is the purpose.

I was numb before you came into my life.
I had become a blind spectator to the poverty, misery, and beauty I am surrounded with. You opened
my eyes and forced me to see the entirety of my environment
with vivid colors, sounds, and scents, and for that
I resent you because I no longer want to be part
of such dichotomy. 

My resentment is fleeting though,
because your absence is a constant reminder of the
oasis you have/had become for me.

The prism you gave has me questioning what we
are more than ever. Is everyone as I was, blind?
Or do they have a sanctuary like I do, where
they can escape for a brief moment no matter how
short-lived? 

The more questions I have, the more I
question your existence. But I have kissed you and
heard your musical and contagious laughter, and I can live in those memories
forever, whether real or imagined.

©2016

M.M. Guta