Mid Stream 1950 Poem by Bill Hamlin

Here I am a man possessed of a sound mind and
Body - not old - not young, but nevertheless,
A man. I have had my senses touched by
Passions and calmness - I thought youth blind,
Deaf, and dumb - but why must I - a man
Not young, and not old, still suffer the blindness
That frightens? Am I different than others?
Can they see things I cannot? Why am I
Forbidden to know where my hope lies?
Why when I love one woman must others
Confront me and test that love when my
Love is not enough for that one, yet encompasses
Multitudes? May I in years to come feel the
Truth, or must I forever linger with my youth
In that bitter blindness that leaves me empty
And afraid, or will I find an unknown, unseen
Point, high above this mist of longing where I
Can at last see my past, my present and my
Future. Where, with my loves, I can stand
In the warm sun of certainty unafraid?