The Other Side of the Road

As always with newer poetry, the editing process continues. Refined only once, I would welcome comments and suggestions, or opinions on how to make this poem flow even more smoothly.

To Jessamay, word-sketch artist extraordinaire. Congrats, my friend.

The Other Side of the Road

Words.
They amaze me sometimes.
I read the thoughts of a friend –
condensed song, purified emotion,
and must marvel.
She is where I want to be,
and I am happy for her.
Though her journey is far from complete,
and she would laugh to hear me.

But things are coming clear,
this wanderer is slowly learning.
It’s amazing what you hear once you become silent.
And I have.
Can you imagine going a day without speech?
A week?
Time stretches away and vanishes.
This I have done,
am doing,
will do.
When I do speak, compelled to talk,
I wish I hadn’t.
Broken mirrors, these moments.
I have lost the knack of conversation,
what little I had.
But, I can sing now.
I lift my voice, then laugh.
I surround myself with music,
and dance.
Distilled down to myself,
The weight of words and masks
are rocks I dropped by the wayside.
Can you imagine the sheer freedom
of being unknown?
A stranger in a new place –
there’s no one as unbound.
Where preconceived notions slide away,
because I don’t know you enough to allow them.
And if you look at me oddly
as I ride my bike, singing,
why should I care?
Explanations are chains I’ve tossed away.
Speech is a stone I won’t lift,
refusing to be dragged down.
Song is the framework of my wings,
laughter the supporting wind.
I have begun shrugging off my spirit’s weights,
and as I speed down the road, ocean breeze in my face,
song in my throat, laughter in my eyes,
I could swear any minute
I will fly.

We are all at the mercy of forever,
and as I sit over pasta,
marking time until returning to work,
I tip my cap in unseen salute
to she who shares the other side of the road.