The Man I was
Look at me.
Hatred consumes me.
Come closer..
No, don't look into my eyes.
You won't find me there.
Search for the man who used to be
before the world
tied knots into his belly
Look for the man who felt joy
before fists became his survival.
Curses, his tools.
Can you hear his heartbeat,
shattered into mirrored reflections
of his inner unrest?
Can such a heart be healed?
Touch my hand.
The calluses won't hurt.
Why do I ask this of you?
I see the question linger.
Perhaps the answer lies
in the crease of your smile
the way the sunlight reflects in your eyesMaybe you are the one
who has come to help release my secrets,
rediscover the man I was.
Pris Campbell
Copyright 7/15/2001Artwork: The Boxer by Elgin Leon Bolling
(Elgin Bolling is a professional cartoonist and caricaturist of more than twenty years duration. He hails from Brooklyn)
Music: Bacarrusso
