Triptych

I

The  dam burst, the water
Deluge was enormous and
Unedifying.  It took the whole
Neat countryside with it,
Overturned it, and left it
Lying.  The  mind's scree rattled
Vacancy and gushed  till
It was still.

II

This is a resurrection, a painful
birth that is a death of all old
things, and rings, and misgivings;
a finding of the self that
annihilates duty and piece
work, that affirms the self
as the spark that strikes and
lights a life. This was a tunnel
of strife, too dark and long -
it had to end for me to be
         person.

III

I let it go; the gold, I felt it
Leave  the finger, loosened and
Rolled, the loss of something
Precious that tied and bound
The hands to an
Unsound, grieving love, an
Open wound festering and
Seeping my life unclean. I am
Glad it went of its own accord, then,
Rolled off me into time, freeing
My real chains.

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