| the bench in the park Things spin as I sit, frustrated, confused and perhaps mad. I never knew - I never knew.... How much I had given away, how much I had needed. Now, things become painfully clear, and I bleed and break. As my mind cuts itself to pieces I can do nothing but laugh- I, who had never believed it could happen...thought it could never be. How foolish I was to think myself special, to think myself immune To the truths and the characteristics of being human. Everything collapses and I see what little worth things truly have Yet how significant they are. There is a beauty to everything, even in death...and I begin to remember... "to every thing there is a season..." My head falls to my chest, the words ringing in my ears. "if life is a blessing, then death too must be a blessing..." It is raining as I walk through the gray streets of a city that doesn't exist but is very real. I sit in the park and watch the birds swim in the pond. It is still raining and I am freezing, yet I do not care. I look at the body of a dead bird and wonder to myself, "Where are you now? Are you happy? Did you love?" The bird says nothing, and continues to lie at my feet, Its white feathers stained with the filth of a city street. Taking out my handkerchief, I try to wipe the mud away- To restore the bird to its original beauty, to make it pure again Yet the more I rub, the blacker the feathers get And suddenly, I am afraid. I look over to the pond and see an old man there, Sitting with the body of a dead bird in his hands. He is crying without knowing it, rocking gently in the cold rain. His clothing is old and torn, his face haggard. Tomorrow, I know they will find him there, Lying in his wet clothing on the bench, still clutching the dead bird. Crazy old man, everyone will say. Crazy dirty old man. When he is found, rigor mortis will have already set in. They will hold a funeral for him, but no one will come. Somewhere, someone will wonder to themselves, "Where are you now? Are you happy to finally be free? What was your name? Do you miss life? Did you love?" The day ends and night takes over. Somewhere, far away, I hear someone's crying cut off by the sound of nothing. The world tilts into the black, and I see the end |