Stranger I Am

Stranger I Am
© Surazeus
2018 05 30

Whenever you lose track of your true self
always go down to the river and touch
the flowing water of the turning world
to hear the whisper of truth in the wind.

When I throw my stone in the silent lake
I hear the sound of your voice in the splash
ripple outward to become our galaxy
who knows why I wait for you on the shore.

I search for new clues in book of the soul
I find abandoned on the river shore
so I record the song of every bird
who shares the secret of my aching heart.

When I go down to the river and touch
the flowing water of my anguished hope
I wake from dream of death to see the sun
who shimmers indifferent to my existence.

I write strange story to explain my life
and how my suffering earns me right to live
free from the social rules that you impose
but its pages become lost butterflies.

We walk together on the ocean shore,
but do we both hear the same melody
translated from waves that still call our names
when we swim down down to the silent depths?

While battling monsters in waste land of fear
I hear voices echo from Cavern of Orpheus
who calls my name in wild bluster of wind
so I walk the Rainbow Bridge with Iduna.

Iduna gives me apple so I eat
glowing spirit of galactic insight,
then blaze new trail winding past paradise
to research algorithm of creation.

Exploring beyond pole-walls of the palace,
I encircle the world with stepping feet
then write encyclopedia of all truth
to record human methods of survival.

I remember how we place stones in rings,
cover frail leaves with twigs and large dry logs,
then strike flint stones to spark flame of the sun,
and tend crackling fire in dark midnight gloom.

I dip my cupped hands in the flowing water
and gaze at my face mirrored by the light
so I dissolve in glow to lie on grass
and become both still hill and swirling wind.

I walk beside my father on the hill,
listening while he explains the names of things
and how they express actions of desire
which motivates everything to move forward.

I sit beside my mother at the hearth,
listening while she explains techniques of cooking
and how to prepare plants and animals
so they will nourish our bodies with life.

I walk away from home ten million times
and follow trail of each ambition far
beyond the walls of paradise we build
so I become every ancestral soul.

I leave my daughter sitting safe at home
to watch new movie in the theater
but when I return after the wild show
I find she vanished on the road of life.

I walk away from home when I am ready
to race for success through the maze of power
and never look back at the open doors
where people watch me play my ancient role.

I climb high mountain and stand in wild sunlight,
remembering the first time I saw my horse
galloping fast as wind along the beach
till I became the wave and rode her back.

So I walk through your door ten thousand times
to hang masks I wear on your moving walls
where I become one among countless souls
because I am every person who lives.

I talk to myself through all of your faces
and listen to myself search for the truth
so I arrange weird memes of information
for ontological puzzle of life.

Although I have lost track of my true self
each time I almost find myself again
I evade becoming person I design
and become the stranger I am instead.