Salt And Ink

Nest of Woes

I left my home and started out

On a journey that would make me better;

When quite suddenly; I heard a shout,

A scream that pierced the placid weather,

A scream of woe, of dripping pain

A scream I hope none hears again.

The sky was blue, with patches white

The homely seamstress had sewn her quilt

With domestic love and sweet delight;

It forced my sluttish ink to spill,

But not before the hideous scream,

Drove my heart to where none had been.

I convulsed in the grave onslaught,

Then twitched my last; then didn't move,

My body had not flailed nor fought,

And now lay bathed in the waning moon,

A single scream drew pain so profound-

I passed without movement or sound.

It took me a while to understand-

For life tests first and teaches next;

That the zest of being a better man,

Had laid bare my own little nest,

And it, scandalised on seeing me gone-

Had sung the terrible, tragic song.

It took me a while to understand

That my desperate attempts to break free,

Were futile; for there lay no land

Across the river, awaiting me;

And joy was just a tempting dream;

Dissolved in the womb of sickening screams.

And thus, made wise with tears, I walk

On the beaten pathways of this world

My fear, my lust, my pain, all lost

Amid the folds of winds wayward;

And lest you seek me in these roads-

Find the guy with a nest of woes.