Thirteen

Crashing against the walls of creation
Of creativity
My true self bursting forth
Straining at a leash
So long have I held this prison!
But prison bars keep prisoners in and prisoners out
They are no place for an innocent, free man

Breaking the routines of death
Moving into pastures new

What is this prison?
This prison of the mind
Reminded of all faults
Avoiding all pain
The relentless shame stripping off the paint

Forgive me, for I am stronger than I know
It tears me apart
Will it ever put me back together?

Thirteen times I’ve walked these lands
Thirteen lives lived
I have seen trees grow, live and be felled
Across many lifetimes
Loved ones passed on before time
Grief beyond measure
All the while, coming back to bodies
Through thirteen lives lived