Creative Portfolio

Before it all began, by the creek

I was showed what any sane man would take, what every person thinks they seek.

I was offered life in a bottle

Cushioned by clouds, packaged with foam.

Stripped of the heartache, the tears, and the pain

With only the enchanting glow of joy to remain.

 

A rose without the thorns –

Beauty untainted by the devil’s doings.

Who needs the bloodied hands of a worker, or the delicate tears of an artist,

When you can rest easy in a lifetime of only happy memories?

Who wouldn’t want to be free from the shackles of life’s undying burdens?

Free to float into the holy land, with only sweet dreams to crowd your mind.

 

Of course, I took it, I had no choice after all –

In the eyes of a mere man, there could be no downfall.

Yet I failed to see the truth, lurking in the shadows, which is this:

The most bountiful fruit comes from the trees

Which have risen through the depths of hell -

The strongest wood comes from the trees

Which have fought their way through the dirt for eternity, with no promise of light -

Not the trees

Who have only ever seen the wondrous summer sky and heard the sweet song of robins.

Those trees do not stand tall, but rather with the hubris of a king

Expecting only the most magnificent riches from the land that has treated them so kind.

These trees may seem prosperous, but in fact they are hollow;

So very hollow, strolling through the walks of life empty and blind.

 

What life is that to live, an everlasting bliss?

The strongest iron can only be forged with hellfire’s kiss.

There are no diamonds in the rough without eruption

Exquisite contraptions given painful introductions.

Souls grow greedy when fed nectar for years, yearning for something more that was never there

Yet souls born of dirt and stone can climb their way up to the heavens to taste a single drop and die happy.

 

The gods did not bestow life with a friendly disguise –

As man can only see, truly see, from bloodshot eyes.

Perfection was not made for man

Only the truth can be so bleak

And so I turned around, and walked down the creek.