ZIRCON'S BEACON
2023-01-01

***

before, in your grief, you sigh with a tear
"it would be better for everyone if I disappeared"
just remember every person who's ever held you dear

with faces erased and memories decayed
who recall your actions if not your own name:
"She brightened, even if only for a moment, my days."

but these last six months, you've in bed languished
as all the things you counted on from you slipped:
the promise of employment, the hope of safety,
the Outside-bound ticket messless and pain-free

you jumped from the cliff as exhorted last Oracle
and unfurled your wings to catch all the wind you could hold
but while has deepened the bond with your wife
this is not true flight but only slow glide

gradual realization that in life you lost
while the destination grows anything but soft:
the climate beats harsher, economy bereft,
hordes at the gates demanding your own death

wings too weak to your body elevate
but is there strength to turn elsewhere you'll less hate?
one of these days you'll be free again
can you find a way to survive until then?

I hold this zircon gem up to the sky
in hopes it'll catch the fading sunset light
and scatter to fire, diamond-like rainbow:
my beacon follow to know where to go

***


CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (c) Vane Vander