Opening the door to a misshapen heap,
The road, its paint, its subtlety -
A crosswalk open, in need of a light
That\'s much too vibrant, but in need, despite.
Dejected roses line the walk,
Alongside man, or at least used to.
The path too wide; it was cast aside,
To make space for the many turned few.
An ever-changing scope of liquid,
Condenses, and paints the grass;
Bearing witness to a form bereft
In that this \"gift\" was once the past.
Wisteria refuses to flower here,
Its petals shall no longer call.
Slag elates a hunger foreseen
And deafens the evensong.
Tearing out the rotten pieces
Of words too little to care,
Listing off the memory then
In a life, so unaware.
Of the roadside we take no interest,
Paying no heed to its toil or nature,
The burdens that it must carry
Without notice for the danger.
Do we keep our heads aligned to see
What skeleton shall come crawling next,
Do we count them among the lucky,
The fortunate and the blessed?
After making it down the lane
A man much like myself,
Points beyond toward the way I came
As if he\'s looking at something else.
I pivot to catch his gaze and ask,
\"What\'s a matter, Sir?\"
He then shifts his finger to me and replies:
\"The size of the universe.\"
My eyes meet what lies behind me,
A sight marvelous, and fair -
And as I look back to thank him;
Nothing, as I guess he\'s needed elsewhere.
Afterword:
Hello everyone. My name is Nicholas Browning, and I\'ve been using
My Poetic Side for roughly five years. During this time, I have seen
many things that have changed my perspective on writing, creativity,
inspiration, motivation and life in general. I have all of you to thank
for this. Without you, I would have never been able to become the
person that I am today. I\'m very fortunate to have met all of you.
I\'m saying thank you because this may possibly be the last thing I post
on this website. I have decided to become an author and pursue that
career full time. This poem marks the 100th one that I have written
and posted here. It\'s very important to me, and in a way resembles
all of the things I\'ve just mentioned. I needed this website to keep me
going, and I believe I needed to meet all of your expectations to become
a part of it. I tried leaving once before, but I wasn\'t able to do so. I needed
you all way more than I thought. You gave me a drive that kept me writing,
thinking, and breathing. You gave meaning to my listless days, all 1,825 of them.
Your sincerity has allowed me to grow, and to learn. Without you, I\'m not sure
just who or what I would be. I\'m happy that I\'ve made it this far with all of you.
If any of you wish to keep in touch, then shoot me a message and we can work
something out. I may be around, and I may post more here in the future if
it becomes a possibility. To me, the Eighth Wonder of the world is perspective.
Isn\'t that a beautiful thought?
I hope I have done for you all what you all
have done for me,
if even a little.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Browning.