In Search Of Higher Ground Poem by Susan Lacovara

Standing close to the silence of unspoken words
Feet wet, by the water's edge of isolating thoughts
We fail to meet each other's eyes
Our heads lowered in the deafening need to defend our reason
We have closed the window to the winds of good intention
And puff up our chests full of misguided courage
All so that we may appear unaffected
By the infection of thoughts left to fester
You do not tend to your open wound
Thus allow the bleeding to continue to stain your fabric sleeve
While I carelessly salt them
Sprinkling my own scabbed sadness from scars that run deep

We are imperfect
And for good reason

What I carry, heavily, I have carried alone and long
What you have kept and clung to, over much time,
Has been your constant companion (even if uninvited)
Grief will swallow a man whole if he wallows in it's shallow
Pain will steal the beauty from a lady's smile
We are not that well equipped to stave off all intruders
So we need combine the ammunition that best arms us for success

Words are weaponry of a most powerful sort
Distance is a poor defense if looking for truce
Quick stabs and reckless shots are certain to injure
And what is gained from a conflict that started as a hidden thought
Spill the anguish before it bubbles
Lay out the confusion and chaos that churls in a pounding head
Open the door wide and forego the shouting
Raise your eyes to look into the other's
And be brave
Be Brave
Your biggest battles are not with one another
But with the demons and devils of the past
A past that did not include this union, this moment
Taking prisoners from places where peace reigns
Does not eliminate the history that brought us here
So hear and then weigh what is hurled from an unknown direction
And collect your scattered thoughts and stack them
A watchful wise man would know that love is more powerful than pain
And pain, when put in it's proper place, can be useful

We are imperfect
And for good reason
Meet me on HIGHER GROUND