Life is Hard

long after all my enraged eruptions end
earthquake shudders soften into silence
penetrating diamonds of harsh hails hush
rigid chisels of cold pewter winds weaken
sapphire spurs of lightning wires wither
wrenching wedges of steely blue ice liquify
and torrents of turbulent tempests temper

I surrender to ailments of apathetic entropy
leaving me stone-faced and roughened
exhaling my fumes of dire exhaustion on
my flinty grey mass of desiccating bones
my denuded corpse sighs as saber skies
murder the insecure battlements of myself
in pain—I shiver—a destitute shipwreck

petrified in brewed dikes of lamprophyre
spreading along my ache of jagged spines
this cadaver seeps out its moaning spirit
as brown hickory ridgelines smear me
and drizzle my talus into a deserted desert
swilling dusty tombs of broken jawbones
and carbonized peppers of ancient pyres

yet—mother earth reshuffles my remains
to hide me in her earthen casings of love
so beguiled by her interminable beauty
I finally rest—protected by native spirits
and igneous cores praying for acceptance
my extruded ruins inflame sparks of color
that light my rebirth with a restored time

at last—my faint heart pulses for vision
dreaming over my sepulchers of beauty
that may linger but for the eyes of few
as a fraction of a thing in a larger thing
I feel more massive than any volcanics
more magnificent than any lost legend
and I finally realize—I genuinely belong

if this hoary wretch of a skeletal monster
bound in grinds of primordial dungeons
can endow you with any sliver of courage
or bids a raw rarity you could work with
even in your mazes of secret struggles—
understand this—if I can possibly matter
then know you are also loved and needed

in our plights—we walk braver together
as we wander in tears of enervating noise
trying not to base our emotional energies
upon cruel winds of social media gossip
we can ascend together—in peaceful grace
rising from the morose ashes of depression
with hopes beyond any doubt or drought

as friends—let’s muster the courage to dare
to stand tall and captain our sails of spirit
spreading beyond man’s dullest desolation
where their wingless crowds dare judge us
for in the end—we will be judged on how
we used up our deep slaking wells of love
and spread the cups of our warming hearts

let’s learn our names and become true to us
let’s listen and discover how to sympathize
let’s be kinder and share our individuality
let’s learn from our planet and preserve it
let’s find peace helping God and humanity
so unified—we erode into our finest images
a stature reflecting the beauty of our creator

where I stand—we frankly need each other
I need you because you see some odd light
buried within me that I don’t see in myself
you are my dream for a bright eye’s future
and you need me because your loving heart
could seriously use a giant reliable partner
I’ll be wind—your whispering song of hope

and though our lives course heavy laden
we stand true as one—solitary sentinels
climbing diverse temples of our splendor
far above what any darkness can shudder
for across these vast and forsaken deserts
we will remain anchored—like a Shiprock
settled deep in soft sands of life and love