Illusions

 Did you swap one set of walls for less visible ones? 

Protection in motion, 

Protection in dunes and shadows of storms. 

I am covered in a blanket of moving pictures in the dark. 

In my mind, I am hidden. 

But, in truth, I am easy to discover, 

easy to fool, 

easy to consume. 

I jump into the abyss, 

I don’t look back, hoping for redemption, forgiveness or a new beginning. 

Do you ever turn the devil on that spread? 

Dance on in the same abundance. 

I know scarcity comes after dark. 

We get what we deserve.

Wishing is the key.

If I just hold on, illusion turns real. 

Hold that image, 

time may just rewind, 

life may be renewed. 

So I live on in the images that shift and turn. 

My skin becomes older, 

my body degrades, 

and it all passes unbidden, undecided and undeclared. 

Are we tainted by the wind? 

Are we tainted by the shadows that lie undiscovered? 

Are there delays, regrets, life wasted? 

For then I wake. 

It is dawn, 

The silver linings on those clouds shine through. 

It always comes back. 

Be patient. It always comes back. 

The wheel of fortune turns. 

The inevitable always ensues, 

it is impossible to stop. 

Even when you want to. 

Even when you wish hard enough. 

Vibrations in the air soothe me. 

Images of pixelated fantasy,

fabricated voices in the night. 

They are for those like me. 

For those who remain hungry, starved, malnourished souls. 

Do you see it? 

Did I choose to show it? 

They look on in admiration, 

they see the pinnacles and summits,

the satisfaction. 

And I do. 

I listen, I wake, I stand and deliver, over and over again. 

I will not stop til it’s over. 

Those cards will fall how they will. 

Even if those cups fall reversed, 

even if those swords fall on my back. 

Even if I continue to be the player, the clown. 

Even if all I ever see is the mirror. 

If I had just one wish,

it would be to end the yearning. 

Not everyone gets their caramel coating.