“Journey’s End”

  

c. 2026 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(8-26)

 

 

The end of a long journey

Too quickly, I am here

At the water’s edge, and wondering

About a lifetime that has disappeared

I see my reflection in the azure pool

A birthright, unwisely squandered

This act was foretold in a fable of old

In a prophecy, over yonder

At Sunday School, I heard the quip

“There’s no hope for you!”

And though I was a child, barely born

I accepted that those words rang true

The teacher spoke with wisdom

He had a manner that made me still

I held my breath and listened hard

His assessment gave me quite a chill

From that day, I knew my place

A deviation from the family form

My footsteps never met the mark

I found myself, tempted and torn

The examples that I had to learn

Were numerous, and nice enough

Yet I often stumbled along the way

Too easily becoming wild and rough

The verses remained inside my head

I knew the map and read it well

But gambled with the treasure chest

And exchanged that cause for a sorcerer’s spell

It made my mother cry with pain

Her tears were falling as a sign

In a shadowed corner of my room

Ashamed of what I had in mind

The book I knew was given with grace

Did not chasten an obedient heart

Instead, I turned to rhythmic tones

To summon what sermons could not impart

That kind of living was foreign to us

Not a thing ever seen among the brood

I shocked her soul, with a whisper

Too confident and metaphorically rude

I thought that by the work of hands

A foundation laid might come to pass

But once I had seen the yield of crime

There was a specter in the looking glass

A weary face, lined and crisp

Seasoned by long years of labor

It did not bring me a happy home

It did not find me friends or favor

Upon that rock that became my bed

I met the night, in a restless embrace

With eyes closed and a penitent pose

I returned to the spot that began this race

Back again, to where I was

A primal prancer, on my toes

Spinning around to view the ledge

Where this jolting journey came to a close

That revelation wrote the epitaph

That echoes still inside my skull

I cannot mute the voice that chants

“No hope, no hope!” like a mocking seagull

Taunting terms are indelibly said

So loudly that they pierce the veil

From another plane, where saints await

To chart the cryptic poet’s trail

If I behold the glistening lake

In all its fullness, filled and fine

I might be forgiven by the master

Who sits on a throne of borrowed time

The charge is given to conform

And I have answered with a trick

A leap across the great divide

A pirouette on my walking stick

That intention set me free

And also stained my flesh with red

A crimson badge to wear forever

An inglorious grab of fear and dread

Hear my explanation, please

I’ll offer it as my shield and sword

This failing is a flight, beyond

Sent to signify my final reward

God, grant me peace and comfort

This is what I ask of thee

Make a place where I may linger

In the vast realm of eternity

When the drumbeat at my core

No longer keeps its pace, provided

I will accept what is decreed

A sentence sold for a house, divided

Bowed and empty, at the end

This will be what I digest

A meal of crow and contrition, prepared

To soothe the ache inside my breast

Nothing more will follow, then

The balance has been satisfied

I’ll do what comes to those who lose

A keepsake carved, and cast aside