“Here I Stand”

  

c. 2026 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(3-26)

 

Here I stand

Amid the wreckage and chaos of a life well lived

A dip into the conduct that saints must forgive

With regrets and remembrances, spat through a sieve

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

At the precipice of a graduation from this globe

Spinning incessantly over an axis, below

With a discharge dispensed in the consistency of snow

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Unable or unwilling to get out of the way

When gatekeeprs approach, to control yesterday

Guardrails intact guide whatever I say

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Embarrassed yet enabled by my fall from grace

A twist of the plot, with new deeds to embrace

A careless infraction to be noted in disgrace

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

How great is the burden I bear by myself

To be lonely and lost, but undeniably well

Fretting with purpose, like a quill at the inkwell

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Inglorious ingrate, that term is employed

To describe how I look to those deep in the void

A jostle of jesters, who jump wildly for joy

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Chilled to the core by indifference at work

Unrewarded by advantages, or princely, prime perks

More likely to end up on my knees in the dirt

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

A generation removed from traditions of yore

Unable to forget, what I once strived to ignore

A slap on the back and a vow to implore

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

A chill in the air from combatants who fight

At the whims of great thinkers who take heart and delight

In the spilling of blood and the cover of night

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Feckless and fearful, but too hard to halt

A gasp of surprise after opening the vault

Where no treasures remain but trace crystals of salt

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Nonsense and riddles, spun to evoke a smile

And the revealing of a plan to play all the while

A spectacle measured in meters and miles

Here I stand

 

Here I stand

Fingers go fumbling, in search of an end

A word to the wise, whispered by a friend

A bow and a wish that they’ll come back again

Here I stand