such a troubled young man, eh?

There is a freedom in the morning
a hope
a sense of relaxation
a feeling of peace
far removed from the strangled prayers
of a madman
living a teen-ager’s life
on this morning
I am far removed from the insanity of weakness
and I am living in the lap of confidence
sleeping in the arms of victory…

finally

still
a prayer for her
for she is lost
and cannot be helped
and doesn’t know it
it’s out of my hands…

finally

(from “Part Six: Epilogue”)

“Epilogue” was written years after the previous work in this anthology. It is an appropriate finale. When I was single and searching, seems I had a lot to say. I was feeling a lot. When I wrote this one I was looking back over all these “strangled prayers” and the time when I was actually “a madman living a teen-ager’s life”. And then when my life changed – and certainly once I met my future wife – I ‘lost my muse’. Which is a good thing in this case. As an ‘old man’, I was inspired enough to write this fitting farewell to my life as a poet.