Eyes Always open

Through a deluge of blood, sweat, and fears

I drove myself from beginning to end

Frantic to know what is foreshadowed

With my eyes always open

Every plot line racing to inevitability

O’er Twists, turns, deadfalls, treachery

Illicit love an occasional cooling oasis

Balm to the heroes tattered will

With my eyes always open

——————

Each moment viscerally imaged

Neath quivering, gummed, recessed eyelids

Wishing only ability to close

Yet … Still… With my eyes always open

——————

Each twist and turn a hammer blow

A powerful swing of Hephaestus

Forging a denouement for this tale

Upon a steaming, bleeding, molten anvil

Still… with my eyes always open

——————

Each illicitly stolen princesses kiss

Felt as a gossamer touch of a feather

Stroking across my feverish brow, tickling

Angst, longing, satisfaction, whimsy

All driven, hammered - an emotional spike

Piercing readers imagination

With my eyes always open

——————

When boy betrayed by lover

Were banished to a miserable dungeon

There to rot in lice-ridden, urine-soaked straw

I quivered with rage... not wanting to see

His angst, trauma, pain, fading willpower

Born anew, invigorated each morn

By thin shaft of sunlight illuminating hope

Shot by deathly skilled archer

Targeted thru narrow slit window

Set high above in moldy weeping stone

Yet still.. with my eyes always open

——————

When didst steal from erstwhile drunken guardian

Taking from a hot, crimson, bleeding corpse

A key.. THE key to air open, free, flowing

With my eyes refusing to be naught but open

——————

When renounced, spiteful, betrayed hero

Returned from whence he came

An army of vengeful acolytes at his side

Each driven by a simmering desire

To see justice once spurned, stomped

Delivered on sharp point of double edged blade

Heroes own tiny life renewed, invigorated

Justified … ancestral heritage to reclaim

My frantic dry eyes refuse to close

Perched awkwardly upon edge of furrowed brow

Adamantly, vehemently… still open

——————

My heart thudding within a bony cage

Pulse a beating tempestuously staccato tempo

Wondering.. Is it possible? Shall it be?

Or will my Hearts Desire wither on vine

Like neglected grapes, wine not born

As I listen to its fading pulse

With my eyes always open

——————

As the villainous usurper

Betrayer of faith, hearth, family

Finally lay eviscerated; sliced, lacerated… cold

I sat back.. quivering, wracked soul recovering

Tired, red rimmed… Yet still, eyes remain open

——————

From a journey rough, raw, exhausting

Trod, feet unshod, over sharp-edged stones

Across freezing streams, rivers, oceans of pain

Levels risen by accepted wept salty offerings

With my streaming eyes always open

——————

A winding trail meandering

Over weed strewn paths

From heights of glory, success

To depths of depravity, depression, torment

Till finally a gossamer sliver of hope

Shines through storm tossed clouds

My eyes utterly incapable of physically closing

Yet.. still… Only open

——————

Until hero gains his princess

Returning victorious to hearths throne

Day won, monster vanquished

Banished in turn to brimstone lined sulfur pits

Depravity, greed, lust.. repaid in a dish served cold

Hard journey ended … Denouement achieved…

Mine eyes still.. as ever … open

——————

Emotionally exhausted lids begin inevitably to slide down

To cover, block away miasmic thinning tendrils of smoke

Rising wistfully from stinking bubbling cauldron

Scraped clean from rusted sides cast-iron Dutch oven

Wherein resides burnt, crusted, ashen remains

Of a literary masterpiece

Quill Scratched onto bone scraped pulp

With my faltering, dry eyes, still open

——————

As my psyche breaths a relieved sigh

Having felt every step in my very marrow

Every stab in heroes ripped, rent skin a fileting of me

Every hard won victory an accolade I did cheer

——————

Finally, last page turned, final word read

My eyes yet still open … I roll over

Final journey Now to the author’s page where…

Virtual Parchment - tattered, dripping

With ink-damp visionary masterpieces

Lay scattered as literary pearls

Strewn amongst illiterate swine

Still with my eyes partially open

——————

Shaking fingertip taps a message as I fade

A message of awestruck wonder

At the skill of the writer

Who took me on a fascinating journey

Of love, loss, trial, hardship, and victory

With my eyes always open

——————

Now I lay me down to sleep

My days arduous journey ended

My eyes … finally…

Drift peacefully closed

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This began as a little 4 line ode in a comment to fellow Vocal Media poet Brenton F and his poem Eyes Screwed Closed.

Yet.. the potential of ‘Eyes Always Open’ knocked upon my door… begging to be released from banishment. To abandon the nether regions of anonymity.

Now… this above. A testament to the authors of my youth who took me upon journeys through every conceivable realm. Here’s to all of you here and elsewhere who write their stories… who pour their hearts blood onto a page.. And then allow others a peek into their chaotic mire.

Thanks for reading.