Etching Away

Like a forgotten prisoner
In a foreign jail
Who spends a prime decade
In a dank, musty cell
With nothing to do but scrape
At the wall of injustice
And dream of escape

So I, too, spent the better years of life
Etching away
At humanity’s dark edges
With a dull blade of want,
Slowly tunneling my way to the truth.
Somehow through the cracks
I saw a hint of knowing light within.

In time
I created this sacred space.
Like Michelangelo
Who sees heroes in marble slab,
The form is hidden there
Destined to die
Until the sculptors, the painters,
The Rodin thinkers and Renaissance masters
Are set free.

Some build castles for kings,
Yet I have hollowed out
This hallowed hall
Just for you.

***artwork by my favorite River Arts District artist Cassie Ryalls

© May 21, 2013
Asheville, NC