WD 80 “The Idea of a Man”

A poem inspired by The Muse of Cold Earth.

The Idea of a Man

Ask not what you can do for your father, but what your father can do for you

With a fencer’s hand you

Separate, skin from flesh, muscle from bone and blood from water

–

With the sun in your open eyes

–

You are a keeper of things, secret, sharp, forgotten.

With divisions in the soul there is a place for everything and still

A place to be a wild stallion, running free, forgetting her 

And still you are a chronicler and a guardian  

–

But the sun is high, you won’t even squint

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Envy feeds you but has no place in your heart

Envy becomes you but you are 

Not even here, not even there

You are a mirage, a vision burned into the eyes by the blinding light of the sun