For a particular youth
I watched the cyclone raging through your mind
behind the storm fronts of your weary eyes;
I felt the gale wind thrust of every word
you bellowed to the over-clouded skies.
And here is what I saw: An empty place.
A realm so foreign to the world of men,
that few could bare to grasp or understand
the sheer impossibility of life.
The ground as far as I could see was razed,
wiped free of every feature bearing hope;
a river seethed throughout the barren fields,
filled with poisons from the wells of loss.
All horizons bore the faintest touch
of mountains, jagged shadows ripped from time;
the sky was silver-gray with high-spun clouds,
the kind that never break to show the sun.
And here were you, hunched over on your knees,
your fingers clutched into the soggy soil,
stunned into a state of heavy shock,
silent, still, and breathing low and mild.
I could not guess what leveled all you knew
and left you magically alive—alone.
But then I heard your murmur: "I am worthless."
And dimly I began to understand.
Dear Soul! What worthless thing could hold?!
What petty life could face such storms of loss?!
What worthlessness could carry on despite
the emptiness of such a barren scape?!
This life is yours! This plane of dreams your own!
Whatever storms have left you thus are gone.
Now you must stand and walk until you learn
the nature of your reconfigured lands!
Stand tall! For you have shown your mettle.
You have endured where most have failed and died.
Your face still holds the will to learn and grow—
So go! Explore the landscapes of your life.
Those distant mountains surely harbor hopes.
And they are yours, so go and see what kind.
But you must leave this place of tragedy,
this epicenter of your broken past.
This place is but a fragment of your soul.
There is much more to you than what you see.
Beyond those mountains continents are filled
with every form of possibility.
For there are treasures hidden in your world,
and there are forests standing green and wild,
but you must make the survey of your soul,
to learn your inner worth and sense of value.
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