I Have Seen the Heart of Man

I Have Seen the Heart of Man
By Stephen Smoke
(From the novel, Cathedral of the Senses)

I have seen the Heart of Man

Red river bleeding dark and deep
  Flowing to the sea
    Beyond the sea
      Beyond what we see

I have seen the Soul of Man
Dim to dark
  Flickering in shadows
  Struggling to see
    Something
    Anything
      That lasts

The World of Man
Is here and gone
  Seasons come
    Seasons go
  What is born
    Shall surely die
  All we hold dear
    Slips away
  Those with whom
    We spend our nights
      Will be gone
        When morning breaks 

It is fear that creates the masks we wear
It is fear that we are not the men in our songs
  Not the husbands we wish to be
  Not the fathers
  Not the sons
  Not the friends
    We wish to be

It is fear that it will all fall away
  And all
  And nothing
    Will be revealed 

I have seen darkness shine
  Against the Light
Darkness born of fear
  Of separation
And so we hide
  Put on the show
  That becomes a life
  Staged by characters
    That we are not
      Yet wish to be
        Or fear to be

Still longing seeps
  From deep within
    A fatal wound
Bleeding out
  To pools of sorrow
  Where future drowns
    In deep regret

Longing…
To be comfortable where I am
Behind eyes that look upon the world
And wish not
  To change
    Resist
      Or own it

This is peace
  To know the world will pass away
  To know it all comes and goes
  To know that neither flesh nor trouble lasts

To know this and hold it in your heart
Makes precious all you see

Those who know this simple truth:
  Do not try to catch the wind
  But cherish what can’t be lost
See no beginning
  Nor an end

I have seen the Heart of Man

 © 2011 Stephen Smoke. All rights reserved.