I

I am bound

To a lifeless boat

Tied to an empty dock.

The am forever hidden

In fog 

Of the things I am not.

I am burdened

Like the heavy finger

Of the betrothed 

To a loveless song.

The cage of existence

Has an open door

Though no one steps out to cross it

For outside is an endless meadow

And a light from all our shadows

Falls upon this empty land.

The rays

We cannot count

With our little fingers.

The bravest venture to the edge

And stroke the bars of the cage

The whispers of a million touches 

Sounds.

From the Shrine of Peace

The Bells of War ring

I can hear them still

Echoing

Through the sorrow of stagnation

Through the lives of purpose

Through the cries of the ones remembered

Through the agonizing blaring of hope

I can hear them still.