I smell the bleach, cleansing
My consciousness, dissolving
The present to leave
An untainted past in my
Memory; a past with a clarity
I had not when it was
Present.

The shape of the music changes
Constantly, swirling hypnotically,
Lulling me into a state
Somewhere between sleeping
And dreaming, turning that
Instantaneous nexus into
A virtual eternity.

I see the desolation and
The bending but unbreaking
Hope that hid within.
That such beauty arose in
Such a dark time astounds me,
Though at the time I saw
Neither darkness nor beauty.

My infant eyes were focussed
On simple things, or on
The haze of simplicity that
Shrouded the complexities of
The time. I was an island of
Innocence in an ocean of
Anger and disappointment.

Now I see all that was
Then: simplicity, complexity,
And the beauty and tragedy,
The light and darkness,
The madness and sanity
From which that strange,
Divided time was made.

I am a product of those
Dichotomies: a truthful lie
Told to transport
The secrets of the past
Into the future.

09/26/2007

Posted on 09/26/2007
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