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This Grand Defeat
Amidst the ruins, amidst the stares
Amidst a conversation shared
Its fragments spoken, silence broken
The words come upon us unaware
The words, a street that leads nowhere
Where we stand, hand in hand
Alone within this frozen land
Side by side and much alive
Standing where we once had died
Dead as this city all around
Dead as this silence that surrounds
The burned-out buildings, the coffee shops
My pulsing blood, the pounding stops
To only start again.
A feast of colors within my mind
A swirling, whirling paradigm
This city. . .
These streets. . .
The broken glass abut our feet
Reminders of our grand defeat.
Our throbbing hearts, their pulsing beats
Our eyes for fleeting seconds meet
Then in fear retreat.
I have often wondered. . .
Were it not for this city
Were it not for these streets
Were it not for the strong, the weak
Were it not for you, were it not for me
Would there be ruins?
Stares?
Would there be conversations shared. . . ?
But I'm brought back to the item at hand
Standing beside you, hand in hand
Taking in this frozen land
This wasted land
This city of hopes deserted.
I'm brought back again and again
Where to begin? Where to begin?
To rebuild our city upon the sand
Upon the ruins of this frozen land?
(I think that I shall never understand!)
Maybe I shall go alone,
Yes, alone
For my own sins I shall atone
And build my city one house at a time
And this city shall be mine, all mine
Yes, I alone this city shall own. . .
But I cannot bear to be alone.
So I stand,
Aware of my hand. . .
Your hand. . .
The blowing sand and blinding wind
When will this end? When?
When?
I bear my cross, the burden's great
This frozen, wasted land I can't escape
It is all so much to bear. . .
I think I much prefer the stares
The hungry eyes
Those lifeless vamps I so despise
They lurk within the shadows, within the dark
They're driven by my pounding heart
And pounce upon my exposed fears
And feast on me for years and years
Laughing at my futile tears
Tears they sip off of my cheeks
Then ask if they can have a peak
Just a peak, a glimpse
A look within
To see the places that I've been
For they're fixed permanently within this town
Without hope. . .
The city just pulls them down
And down. . .
Down beneath the frozen ground,
The deserted streets,
This grand city. . .
This grand defeat.
But I survive their fierce, lifeless attacks
As I lay naked, helpless upon my back
I reach for your hand
And you reach down
Pulling me up from the ground
Meeting eyes, our gaze fixed
The tension high, emotions mixed
For a moment forgetting the frozen land
Becoming one through connected hands
For a moment forgetting the empty streets. . .
For a moment accepting this grand defeat!
©2003 Gary C. Daniels
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