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Why should I care that you sit huddled in a chair?
Chains around my heart and vision blocked by my own despair
My needs, my wants, my ego haunts and leaves me unable to care
I’ll leave this world, my pain unfurled, cast upon those who dare to ask
For I, too, cannot hold the weight that binds you to that chair
I will not turn to others for comfort nor the answer hidden in the bottom of this glass
I’ll not bare my soul to any sort, for the judgment that awaits with promise of rot
Rather, I’ll expel such grievance as I see fit, upon the likes of you for a bit
For at least that alone is within my control…or so I’d like to believe
I’ll not let the pain take me down, not like you huddled in that chair
Consumed and shaken, world rocked and soon to be taken
You’ll not be judged by the world around you
You’ll not speak, for what good will it do?
Though they try, not a soul will understand the veil over your heart, mind, and spirit
There you sit, locked in an invisible prison of darkness—the reason left for all to guess
“It will do no good,” you cry, “to tell of such horrible pain. For how can anyone care whose heart is chained?”
Pain released upon the world is how I know of the burden you feel
For the bind around my heart tightens with each expression of words, link by link, from you to me.
How to break the bonds that hold me prisoner, too, like you huddled in that chair?
Iron can be cut but not the invisible shroud that builds each link cloaking me in despair
We are one and the same. You, a mirror image of my very soul beneath the chains
“Rise up. Rise up,” I say. “And walk with me far away.”
We can leave the room of the invisible shroud and hope for vision that is more clear
To tender silence of the early morning sunrise and its burst of colors bright
To the clear blue radiance and whispers of storms aside
And later, into the peaceful realm of evening shadows at dusk, as they invite the stars to guide our way
Though that veil may follow you still, each inhale of breath you will feel
A look to the sky to find our way will help to see beyond the illusion of black and gray
For in that walk your vision is clear and my heart with its chains will no longer fear.
–D. Alexander
