Ghost Of My Fractured Soul

Ghost Of My Fractured Soul
© Surazeus
2026 06 14

Bright ghosts of all the lives I could have lived 
swarm all around me in the maze of myths, 
so I assign each alternative self 
weird variant on the name Odysseus, 
for though they set out on their quest for home 
they each live and die in some foreign town. 

I hear their songs in silence of the day, 
so I record memories they throw away 
because they have all disappeared from time 
which leaves me now alone of all my selves 
erased from possibilities of fate 
while still alive in shadow of my home. 

Strange cry of sorrow tainted by pure joy 
rings out through endless forest of dead trees, 
so I climb every mountain in the world 
to find source of this cry of bitter hope, 
till I realize with laughter of soft rain 
that it comes out of my own aching heart. 

The scarlet raven on my shoulder sings 
with pure voice mimicking the nightingale 
to prove the dire wolf glowing in my heart 
keeps me alive on journey to the west 
when I search cathedral ruins of dead gods 
for holy scripture that lives in my heart. 

Since I take the low road where the sun shines bright 
I hear birds of hope sing in grieving trees 
though I wander where the wildflowers spring 
for I hope to meet my true love by moonlight 
where we had parted in the shady glen 
as lovers on bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. 

Though every living thing on Earth will die 
and wither in the turning flow of time, 
we glow with mystery of the universe 
when we stand in the field where lilies bloom 
and let the timeless gleam of ancient stars 
penetrate our hearts with ache of true love. 

I wish to be as generous as Death 
who treats each living soul with gift of joy 
since we glow fragile as the lily bloom 
that sprouts in jagged rocks of the glen pool 
with kind attendance of the honey bees 
though thunderstorms crack illusion of faith. 

I may never see misty glens of Scotland 
in fleeting drama of my secret life 
yet spirit of your love blooms in my heart 
no matter where I roam in this wide world, 
so I send last ghost of my fractured soul 
to meet you on bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.