Where Art Thou? Poem by Robert Stoddard

Where art thou?
I mutter uselessly in charred shrubbery.
Looking upon mountainous reflections of echoed words:
Where art thou? Where art thou?
These coal based words fuel my slowing heart.

Friends testify thou art nigh,
yet the horizon looms an empty spectrum:
Yielding its promise of stability,
crumbling with its path to perfection as
its luminescent hues fade amidst my arrogance.

If I amputated my prideful cataracts,
perhaps thy presence shall be proclaimed.
If I assured my heart to thaw,
a warm truth might be felt
and a true happiness may emerge.

If thou dwellest, then I have need to find thee.
If thou speakest, then I have need to hear thee.
If in me thou places thy trust, I have need to know.
A resulting essence would enter emancipated waters,
and my worth would wax unclouded.