The Brown Gate Poem by Adrian Antique

I am just so glad it is there -
This imposing structure of pure grit and steel,
Shielding me from the jungle outside and its glare …
And from them who are deaf to what i feel.

There could be noise or fire, and maybe rejoicing outside
I do not want to know … these passing things I do not wish to see.
For I dared to share my spaces with them yet they lied …
And I almost returned to a dark place that used to be me.

I am lucky to be here inside this metal screen -
Rather than be lost in a crowd, I made a world of my own.
Here, I could cry or laugh forever and be left unseen
In a safe haven with my light and darkness and my time … alone.

On the other side, it looks very formidable
Like a guarded entrance to a famed fortress
Filled with treasures not meant to be visible
And with secrets that are better laid to rest.

Yet on the inside, as seen by my own heart's eye,
This vanguard is the delicate veil securing my dreams …
It's the caress of my sleep unbothered where I lie,
Unmindful of the outdoor that's not always what it seems.

And so, within this concrete little universe,
Love is the freedom between my night armor and my open field -
Where masked faces can no longer cross my stolen rivers
And a quiet brown gate protects this castle I must build.