Courage

 

Courage

•

he lifts himself quietly

so quietly

from beneath the sheets
soiled with neglect

makes his way
carefully

past the shallow-breathed crumple
that lay milky-eyed in a heap
un-moving on the floor

save a twitch of the sodden head

which head now harbors demons
where nocturne angels of sweet release
laid down lush upon her
in fevered embrace

lustfully conjured
by last night’s spoon and lance
still skewered
silver in the soured vein

he stops but for a glance
verifying life
then moves on

head down
he angles to the bathroom
to the scum-brown bowl
to wash his face

a face
lit sallow by the yellowed bulb
that hangs bare
and lonely

knowing eyes of sadness
stare back from the mirror
broken as his heart

in the dank foodless morning
of this ruined single room
he gathers up his books
steps lightly through the door
down the damaged stairs
into the hostile streets

heavy
with a childhood of strangled dreams

he ducks and dodges
in and out of shadows

his prayer
to once again avoid the evil

seductive as a smile

deadly as a snake

that lurks and slinks
among the garbage and graffiti
of these crumbled brickened canyons

evil
which should diligence fail
will consume his youthful soul

deliberately he continues

until at last
he finds his way into the building
into the classroom
into his desk

into the only hope
to which this innocent dare cling

• • •

rob kistner © 2/4/10

 

…poem written in response to prompt #112, found at “readwritepoem”