The Reasons Why Poem by Leria Hawkins

Date: 1-27-2022
By: Leria Hawkins

Who's to say the reasons why
That we live and love and eventually die
Who makes the claim to understand
Who owns the truth, or sleight of hand

I've fought so hard to win the right
To know the whispers in the night
To hold them close against my breast
To offer comfort, a place to rest

For if I had that chance to hear
To understand, the message clear
I know that it would bring some light
To the chaos that imbues my sight

If I heard a gentle phrase
A truthful thought, amid the fray
Then it might cast a knowing spark
To free me from the blinding dark

All through the night, I hear the sighs
I see the moon, and glittering skies
But promise whispered on a breeze
Is as a forest lost, amid the trees

Who's to say the reasons why
That we cling so tight with unseeing eyes
That we linger with no hope at all
That we know the risk, but take the fall

The battles fought, my flag fly's high
White as the snow that stings my eyes
I lay in tatters, still wrapped in strings
Tied to the post of my suffering

There is no cure to set me free
I am the curse, my worst enemy
My heart will yearn forevermore
For a fire that burns beyond the shore

But I cast no shade, nor hold in blame
The fire that set my soul aflame
I knew that pain was my return
But I struck a match and I watched it burn

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Copyright © Leria Hawkins 2022