Crossing the Rainbow Bridge to
the Canada of my life
I found myself immersed in a flood of colors,
deafened by the pounding
water of my own ignorance.
But before long, enlightenment
descended like the discovery of
A new character, a new creed,
a new group of “influentials”
who suddenly, without warning,
had the ability to steal my loyalty
and drown my soul as if
a whirlpool of charisma had
locked onto my psyche
and drawn me away from
the past, the people, the passions
that I once knew.
And then the water fell
and woke me up
to the reality of what I
had, have, will have,
drenching me in new relief,
new knowledge, new love
of what I’d forgotten for that
momentary trance of the new.
And then I thought to call my friends
And tell them how lucky
I was to have been soaked
in their kindnesses my entire life;
that having friends like them
felt like puppy breath, campfires,
mocha almond fudge–
And then I closed my eyes
for just a fleeting moment
and realized they had died
creating that awful flood
of loneliness despite
the people all around.
And I smiled because
I do that when there’s
no one to tell this to–
and hoped before long
new strangers would move in
upon the currents of my life.
Word Play 