Sonnet
You are so far away
I can’t even reach out and touch you
For I fear you’ll disappear
Into thin air
Before we even come near to appearing together
Assuming the foetal position
As a fatal instinct
Hoping that curling up into yourself will save us
It doesn’t
You are so far away
Like the decaying names
Engraved on the graves of forgotten faces
And faded names
Like the dying weeds growing over the dying deeds
Of a thousand strong
Lying on their backs in a silent song
Whispering what no one can hear
To turn back
Danger! Beware!
You are so far away
Like the country at war with itself
Killing its children
Not just with the poison
But with the violence that violates their minds
While the masterminds of mankind
Hide behind the blinds of the excuse
“It’s not mine”
Pushed for a reaction
They finally take action
By delivering a transaction of violence
The only interaction was a tomahawk missile
You are so far away
Like the perfect paradise that simmers in the mind of all humankind
The sun shine and the world left behind
The grass green slopes and the golden sand
A jar in which we would all like a hand
You are so far away
Come close
Come hold my hand
While the toils of the land
Are fought for in glorious bloodshed
Religion destroying the lives of the faithful
Religion, with its rules and applications
It divides its followers into systems of requirement
It kills itself in the name of the lord
Taking with it any who follow a different law
A simple variance in belief
Has nations ripped and torn with grief
While the countries offering relief
Are consumed just in greed
You are so far away
Like the lonely piano roll
Hammering out the harmonies of the minor notes
To this soundtrack sin-along
Of so many lives
In utter despair of this
Enharmonic atmosphere
The world is four four
And we’re playing at six eight
And we hate ourselves
Because we look and sound so different
Our syncopation
Refuses to synchronise with the
Tik tik tik tok
Of the metronome
The dreary repeats of the four chords
In accordance with the laws set before us
By an undefined lord
Who wages war on our minds
You’re so far away
Like the stars
Supposedly exploding away from us
The twinkle in their eyes as they despise this rotting earth
Laughing at the demise of the dreams we birth
You are so far away
Like yesterday with its broken mistakes
Repeating like a broken record
Crying over words we said
As they become words we say
As if to actually name our pitiful vanity
Would be an act of insanity
Admitting we are the weakened fossils
Of tomorrow
Waiting to be dug up and put back together
You are so far away
Like the tears that I cried
As a child
When my grandfather passed away
On the day that he died my eyes were blinded
As if I was blindsided
Because he was all I aspired to be
And I couldn’t even look at the body
The blank eyes and the painted smile
Of my Poppa
I was in denial
After my tears had dried
I gritted my teeth
And wished that it had been me
Who’d died
To this day I haven’t said goodbye
And as I prayed that I’d give up my last breath
It seemed that, for me, life would win over death
I had to put my suicidal thoughts to rest
You are so far away
Come close and listen near
For I have a story for you to hear
It’s not war, it’s not pain or death
It’s not abuse or suicide
It is simply life
We all have one
So rather than spilling blood like waves in a rosy ocean crashing on the snow
Let us go into the world and show the globe
How to really live
With love
Because with love at the core
You’re not very far away at all
