Apostasy

Apostasy


I found him lurking deep inside
A young boy so open and free
I found him in a summer night's magic
The young boy that once was me

In a flash he leaped from my body
And in consternation we stood eye to eye
The startling embodiment of my sunken memories
The fragile beast so innocent and shy

For frozen minutes we stared in disbelief
At one entity divided into two
He who looked into mirrors and asked why
And I who now look and ask who

As I gazed into his unscared eyes
The forgotten faces rolled past like a dream
In shuddering delight, I felt the gleeful mirth
Of the trickling brook now flowing a stream

In reflective joy I could not help but smile
At the bemussled mop on his sun baked head
And then suddenly he began to laugh at me
But then so solemnly straightened and said

" When changes called, you left me standing
As you blazed away from the clumsy, freckled clan
Within weeks you were gone forever
As you raced toward the mold of western man

In a new world of marvelous pleasures
You silently rejoiced at having said good bye
But you suffered a great loss when you flew away
For when you left you quit asking Why

You now cringe when labeled a child
That stinging word becomes a nagging foe
But when you left, you left your imagination
And without it, the creative currents can never flow

Without the precious imagination of a child
Your own mind will slowly cease to exist
You become only a collection of other people's thoughts
The rains of intelligence become but a fine mist

In the name of glorious manhood
Your inner feelings you must suppress
You now live in fear of being yourself
For a tearful face can never impress

So caught in the frantic race for success
You've forgotten what its like to play
For without the rewards of a childish mind
The happiness you've heard of will always slip away "

As he spoke these words my mind opened up
And I understood the emptiness floating inside
I saw before me what I had so suddenly abandoned
And what I had been forced to hide

Overwhelmed, I reached out to embrace him
But he leaped back inside on reality's chime
Lost forever within my nameless spirit
Lost forever in the nebulous abyss of time