The world against
Standing alone
The fates conspire
A future unknown
The strength of one
The strength of soul
The missing piece
To complete the whole
A resilience none other
Possess on their own
To stand in the storm
To stand strong as stone
A quiet place
A safe space
Alone with your thoughts
Your whispers of grace
A quiet place
Of a soul’s embrace
Where seeker and sought
Dance under love’s fate
A quiet place
To see your face
As this heart has fought
’til pride was displaced
A quiet place
A safe space
Alone with your thoughts
Your whispers of grace
I slip into my cave and hide
In calm darkness I abide
Alone in stillness with my thoughts
And memories of battles fought
The quiet soothes the anxious soul
With peace the day’s toils stole
Image: Iswanto Arif (unsplash)
Gaze into the eternal
Haze of glory, but a glimpse
Across the universe, an unfathomable
Force that stirs the heights of
Imagination, the dreams of all
Creation coalescing into songs of
Praise, awestruck at amazing
Grace that illuminates, an unending
Blaze
We met in a parallel world
Where stars shone neither of us knew
A love shared through the fabric of space
An unstoppable force drawing us near
Yet, when we wake
Just a whisper remains
A quiet memory, fading dreams
The shadow of what could be
If only our worlds collided
A potion for the weary
Travelers cold and dreary
Stumbling through the doors
A mysterious effect
Though the barman smiles
His gaze is full of guile
As he offers them a room
For their tired souls
At midnight there appearing
An apparition that is nearing
A soul’s decomposition
A harbinger of hell
Their faces froze in terror
To the room belong forever
At Death’s dingy tavern
Upon the gloomy hill
A warning to the traveler:
Heed the stormy thunder
Turn back at the crossroads
From Agony’s Estate
A thousand days we journeyed
A thousand we were lost
Still, we traveled onward
Oceans did we cross
We climbed the highest mountains
Seeking knowledge from the sage
Treasuring pearls of prudence
Searching for the mage
In the storm we found her
She told of love and grace
Her steely gaze assuring
Of wisdom’s kind embrace
A pause, closed eyes
He breathes deep
A full inhale
He cocks his head
The birds sing
—they always sang
But now different,
A song more beautiful, more free
A smile spreads ‘cross wrinkled cheeks
Time worn, battered by the shadows
But now in light
Released from his prison
Hand in hand, we climb
Hearts racing with each step
Eyes gazing to peaks above
To valleys beneath
A moment of frozen time
We hold our breath
Dreaming of days ahead
Reminiscing memories
A stillness sublime
The climax of life
A balance of hearts
Give and take, the dance
Lives intertwining
Losing selves in dreams’ expanse
Hopes, fears, whispered thoughts
Laughing, crying, meld to one
Hand in hand, the world spins
Until the self becomes undone
A new life birthed; two become one
Michael (Mike) Bergman 