WANDER

in my loneliest hour
when i had someone who understood me fully
but that person was far far away and beyond grasp
having tasted a liquor so fine none could compare
but now, like to god, i had to remember and believe without proof or physicality
now, like to god, I had to hold on

i wandered far alone and wept
the silent spaces my most intimate witnesses
the darkened empty halls of academia
the tall thick oaks, the tulip poplars that cast long shadows
against the light of distant street lamps
the fields of frozen earth that i traversed

and the skies, the wide open skies
replete with stars and moon

you cannot forget about eternity
when the heavens are drenched in lights for your delight
and the moon lends its gentle glow to your lonely rambling walking
reminding you that "you are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars,
you have a right to be here,
and whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should"

yes whether or not it is clear to you....

and now, the stabs of loneliness doubt and bitterness
are softened, maybe, only so slightly by the glow
and somewhere beyond the realm that is punctured,
yes there is a somewhere beyond and there i think i know

i AM a child of the universe
yes, no less than the trees and the stars
i do have a right to walk this earth

i am precious, i am beloved
i am splendid
a joy and a blessing
i am as i ever should be
and ever in that light,
by the trees, the skies, the frozen earth and the moon,
i am held

(quoted portion is from the Desiderata)