Figure of Speech

Figure of Speech
by Paul Lumsdaine

It is here.
You can feel it pulsating
pulling apart the nerves under your skin
with a sensation that there’s a larger
connotation creeping in.

Your eyes can hardly believe
these strange words you see,
as if there were a beast
just within your reach
trying to somehow break
through the bars of the cage
that separate lines on a page.

And believe me when I say
that it was meant to be this way.
To shake and stir and startle your mind
so that as you read it time after time
it will never cease to be as sublime
as the first moment you saw it
with your very own eyes.

It is here.
For you to disbelieve and dissect
with a keen eye and trembling hand.
But it often takes more than that
to completely understand
the flash of images
creatively conjured
by the flick and flit
of a careful pen.

And there are many
who will let imagery fly right by,
who will not attempt to comprehend
the greater meaning that lies
below the surface of a
double a rhyme.

Yes, you will die
and its a chilling fact
that the fire burning within
your heart is but a brief candle
that fights vigoursly with the wind
to maintain its flame to the bitter end.

You can scream, you can bawl,
but you should sigh with relief
for this path that lies before you
is just a figure of speech.