Below Where Humility Stands Poem by richard ilnicki

below where humility stands

below where humility stands
handcuffed behind the hands of eternity
i reach beyond my prehensile grip.
i do so in a manner which i believe
wisdom would have me.
incarcerated by past performance
my understanding finds me feebly
holding onto the tree of life;
squeezing bark maple syrup comes oozing out,
but only when i see myself
for who i truly am
do i release the arms of atrophy.

for years i had been wrapping proud thoughts,
growth rings, around the secular
fertile bulging pregnant trunk.
the root of the knowledge of good and evil
along with the freedom of choice
encircled me umbilically.

the geographical whorls of my fingerprints
lock absolute truth into a manmade hold
forcing out coerced subvmission.
secure, the rings of my future converge
and number my memories. with nowhere to go
and my past rings rung out to dry
i take a death defying chance; i dance
then jump off the face of the earth
into the future
with my new bride.

richard ilnicki