Phoenix

     

He flees his house, his life, his nest,

that place of disenchanted dreams;

where the happiness that kept

the nightmares from his helpless head

was never what it seemed.

 

It is a new fear that stalks him now,

a fear he cannot keep at bay.

He runs from what he left behind,

from memories of happy times

that now have gone away.

 

No man or woman can outrun

their tapestry of memory.

He finds at last a yellow bench

an island on which he can rest,

amidst the night-time's sea.

 

Here he stops and fights the fear,

unravels the dreams and cuts their ties.

The tapestry sways and falls apart,

yet still its threads seek out his heart

and bind him where he lies.

 

There it holds him, firm and still

growing stronger through the night.

But this suffocating mass,

like all things feared in the dark,

cannot survive the light.

 

At dawn's first rays it bursts aflame,

a burning inferno of his pain's pain.

 

Like a newborn bird he flies

from the ashes of his old life

away into the dawn.

 

Reviews

[S. A. Venus]

what a great and intricate tale you have weaved among the words here, great take on the prompt, I like the uplifting finish of him walking off into the dawn (the light of hope) to create new memories.

[Nancy Lee Shrader]

Congrats on your winning poem! Great Poem!

[John Morris]

A good poem.

Well done.

[Jimmy Greenie]

Good stuff bro. Really loved it

[Alaska Frost]

What an amazing and beautiful poem!
I truly enjoyed reading it.
-Alaska Frost

[Poeticpiers]

beautiful piece of writing I enjoyed the read. how true it is that you cannot run from yourself But you can re invent yourself by adopting a different viewpoint