"Going Away"

 

c. 2025 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(12-25)

 

Stubbed my toe on a stone stuck in the way

A metaphorical block, that I could not escape

I went down

In a fit of wailing worries

I went out

Leaving too late, and in a hurry

I might have known the end result would disappoint

But the sacrificial lamb was mine to anoint

All good

Hey, hey

 

Now there has often been a measure of regret

When looking over events that I want to forget

I turn pale

With the flat tones of a jealous rube

I turn away

With that stone still in my shoe

It does not matter to be cursed and kicked

I’m better off for having survived such tricks

This I believe

Hey, hey

 

Now I know some will read this tome and be untouched

Fully immune to the tap of an emotional crutch

But that’s the breaks

I’ve been there many times

That’s what it takes

To pop a cork from the wine

With that celebration taken fully in hand

I have the option to call myself a better man

I believe

Hey, hey

 

There is often a voice carried on the wind

A resonant sound that tingles my ears and chin

I know it well

This diversion from the plan

I know it true

Though it might have been banned

I learned a lesson from shivers in the cold

More meaningful than taking a gamble, bright and bold

Nothing gained

Hey, hey

 

Somewhere among the clouds of morning, displayed

There is the hope that my black heart might be saved

It burns down

To a coal of memories

It burns hot

Until judgment brings a reprieve

I might have guessed that the battle was won

When I counted out, this meager sum

Of myself in the lurch

Hey, hey

 

Tell me truly, teacher, if you rightly recall

What happens to the dead, when they scale those prison walls

I know not

What the eventual will yield

I know nothing

About meeting God for an appeal

The only guess I have to fake is a grin

Alive and well, and then born again

That is the chance

Hey, hey

 

I won’t tarry among the losers and lame

I have no interest in bouncing, on a board game

I fall down

Right to my knees

I fall out

Like dropping, dry leaves

If someone thinks that glory guards my descent

Then let them prattle on about my intent

With no clues

Hey, hey

 

Years beyond a final tick of the clock

Crowing loudly, this barnyard cock

Beak held high

Like a king, pecking seed

Held strong

Never bowing to need

I would have liked to be so majestic in my stance

But there’s a dribble of consequences, in my pants

I feel it now

Hey, hey

 

Warning, warning, this is the call

Of a jester jumping into a dimension, held in thrall

I am the one

Can you identify my face?

I am done

Transported to outer space

With a yearning for the scenes of a yonder yesterday

I meld with blue, with the azure haze

Going away

Hey, hey

 

I’m going away