Lessons

The happy laughs of joyous pals
in kindergarten fields
twinkle faintly as the breeze
brushes me in dreams.

As if I lived this life by chance
and met all shades of men
I took each toast and roast alike
and shed them off my skin

The sombre battles that I fought
against the kins of hell
tempered my spine with pain divine
and built me bones of will

For being full of liveliness
requires grief and tears
And those betrayed and trampled down
are ones who quell world’s fears

It’s so easy to fret and gloom
o’er these trifling storms
Yet hard to whistle as you brave
the beauty of those wounds

And when you find yourself among
the million feigned mirrors
Hearken the beat of gut instincts
until the melody stirs
until the background blurs.