Modern Romanticism

Overcome, as I might,
The candles of the past
That light their way back to an eclipse
Of all my memories stored in an urn,
Where titles are burned to scarlet flesh,
As eyes are more the shadows
Than the pages of history.

I am facing the tides of the future
That whelm me in moments of doubt.
I see a woman who faces me,
Claims me as a friend.
To which direction do I enter the field
To reach for the cup that fills my tears?
To which direction
Do I say that she can remain?

All of bliss,
All beauties,
All families that speak as they might
In the unison of one.

I am still too deep in my well
To hope for anything beyond Hell.
One who waits by a candlelight
Cannot hope to see me, beyond the fright
Of my own complexion,
Of my own insurrection.

I nail myself upon the cross
That holds me sideways.

I want to kiss, as I want to breathe
In the vapor through exhausted lungs.

Is it still too much to decide
The worth of something other than sheer pride?
I find myself crawling towards a tide
Where dreams shut themselves, upon my side.

I am shot down in the frozen lane,
Misunderstood, misinterpreted, in broadest pain.