Passage

I’ve been grim

and filled with purpose 

long enough 

I’m great at that

great at suborning my desires

to necessity 

great at digging in 

for the long siege 

good at endurance. 

I’ve walked 

the difficult roads 

and I have passed 

under the earth 

where the smoke rises

up the staircase of stone 

and figures emerge 

from the mist 

like illusions. 

I’ve gone through

places of iniquity 

filled with 

what you might call sin 

and nakedness 

down the long hallways

into strange places

that did not trouble me

as it is not 

my purpose to judge

what others are seeking. 

Let me find some 

dive bar or coffee shop

filled with the kind of thick cups

that we hope are unbreakable 

and egg muffins that only

magic can have made

there we can be generous

to one another 

and grateful for 

all the kinds of love 

we have been holding in wait 

for the hour at hand

almost as if we knew

this day would come.