Kaleidoscope Eyes Poem by Alfred Ramos

(Co-written with Caryn Hull)

Don't look at me with those kaleidoscope eyes
Your prism gaze exposes all your lies
Each facet adds new color and luster
To hidden truths you cannot muster

The broken glass tumbling and falling
Vivid visions starting and stalling
Shifting and changing with each tiny roll
Sharp hallucinations tormenting my soul

From fractured dreams I cannot sleep
Psychedelic arrows penetrating too deep
Lacerating and distorting the desires of my soul
Seeing only in part and never the whole

The glitter of false hope on which I cannot focus
Swirling around, like shards of glass mad as locust
Ever-changing patterns of truth and lies
Seen only momentarily before my wishful eyes

As night falls and all color is lost
A chill creeps into me like black frost
A final turn and it all comes to rest
Silently and unceremoniously at best

I pull my gaze from your kaleidoscope eyes
I stare into darkness to conceal my cries
In my dream-like state I’ve become aware
My sorrows scattered, fragmented everywhere