Filthy streets, town without much heart.

My heart wants to cry
And my eyes are bleeding.

I'm leaving you behind.
I’m turning the page.

Cutting loose from your filthy streets
Town without much heart.

You have been good to me
Yet been my home for much too long.

You broke me
You built me up.
All in just one breath.

I am grateful
For the purpose you gave
This young and drifting soul.

I am grateful
For the lessons you taught
And the tools you gave,

For I'm walking straighter, calmer these days.
For my questions have become sharper.
And my maps contain more flags.

I am grateful
For the friction, the pushback, the critique,
Coming from places of deep affection and care, 
For they have fortified my soul.

The only answers
That ever withstood
The stare of doubt.

I am grateful
You returned to me the painter's palette.
The Colour. The Expression.

At the cost of making me weirder. Crazier. More different.
At the cost of exposing ways I’m below the web, and above it. 

Today, I care less.
And. So Much More.

I am grateful
For returning the words.

Words are windows, and they are walls.
Words that I lost, years ago.
Lost them without knowing.

Like the knight
Who leads his stallion by the hand
Instead of riding it.

For knights are meant
To conquer the world.
They are meant to do so
From the top of a horse back.
They are meant to ride,
Ride fast, and far, and graciously.  

For I'm not meant to be without words.
On to new worlds,
Faster, further, more graciously.

You broke me
You built me up.
One breath.

You fortified my soul.
The only answers
That ever withstood
The stare of doubt.

Today, I care less.
And. So Much More.

You have been good to me
Yet been my home for much too long.

Ride fast, and far, and graciously
Young Soul. 

— November, 2019

Memories of Nights in Deserts. Sand. Sun. Sky.