Poem: Sweep

Poem: "Sweep"

First, look to the right for the poem. -->

Details (a.k.a., the b.s.): "Sweep" was written March 14, 2002. This is the fourth version. It flows in unrhymed free form. The nearest scanning would be trochaic or dactylic trimeter. E-mail me if you want to debate the issue. Also, I welcome constructive feedback on this work.

"Sweep" was designed to lie beside "Lycanthrope" as a contrast to its unexpected breaking. In "Sweep," the speaker flows from one subject to the next in a logical progression, rather than sudden leaps. The underlying emotion, however, is much the same. The theme deals primarily with softness (associated with darkness and silence) versus hardness (associated with jaggedness and pain). The "you" that the speaker addresses is intended to be the persons who stare as he walks by, however, it can also indicate the reader.

Some have accused me of writing "Sweep" about a specific dark character mentioned in other sections of this website, notably the Sims Stories. For copyright reasons, I have no comment on that issue. >:-)

Sweeping robes, hissing conversations
Of shadow and silence
Mark my passage
Alone.

All talk and vital inanities
Fall dead as I pass by.
Quiet is my wake.

Eyes speak louder than tongues,
Sometimes, hurling out barrages
Of sharp mistrust and
Unapologized fear.

Let them come.

Dread looks on me,
Looks from me,
My shadowed eyes and soul.

Stare, then, and welcome the peace.
My truths pierce
Sharper than a mind
Honed by pain.

What is mine, is mine,
Thank god, not yours.
Jagged edges and soft liquid seeping,
Elements of pure transformation.
The alchemy of very life
Flows from these hands,
Yet I cannot change my own.

I have only this.
And you will never know it.

Hard truths, poor excuses and
Secrets, my true friends,
Swept ever inwardly
Silent and sobbing
Of unknown loss
Of untold knowing
Of nothing.

Nothing at all.