Such Paradise: A Poem

Such Paradise

Behind a wall

Of stone and ice,

There lies a land

Of paradise

A girl and boy

Tread softly there

And dim themselves

In fear and prayer

Pretending fog

Conceals their sight

They act as blind

To their own light

To keep within

The golden gates,

A girl and boy

Delay their fates

Thus starved and blind 

Of flesh and vice,

They wander through

Such paradise

But palm fronds curl

Towards the dawn,

For without gold

All green is gone

Among the clouds,

The sightless girl

With hand outstretched

Feels out her world

Her reaching palm

Cuts through the mist

While holy hand

Balls into fist

A light then warms

Her fingertips

And with a gasp,

Ends her eclipse

“You’re ruined now!”

The hand then cries

When seeing her

Now widened eyes

Before she has

The chance to praise

The warmth of these

So golden rays

Hand casts both out

Beyond the fence

For those who see

Give recompense

From clouded bliss

To vast expanse,

Both leave, and now

Both take a stance

While she takes in

The cloudless skies,

He longs for dark

And shades his eyes

Boy says to her,

“Why did you seek

This golden light?

You must be weak

To succumb to sun,

Some feeble heat

Is nothing but

A foolish feat,”

Affronted by

His ignorance,

She turns her back

On his offense

Then heading off

For golden sands,

Girl leaves boy there 

To wring his hands

To beg at gate

Of bronze veneer

And cry “Oh please!

Let me stay here,”

As he so falls 

Upon his knees

She slides her gaze

From walls and trees

And to the east

Where gold daybreak

Has that same shade,

Which made her wake

Though clouded mind

Begs mist to stay,

Her evening craves

The light of day

• light
• paradise
• poem
• poetry