© December 9, 2015 by Swami X
“…we are together with the other being,
mutually disarmed and vulnerable.”
—A Little Book for Lovers by Georg Feuerstein
Swords drawn
Each prepared
To penetrate the other with our metal
Chop down the tree
Standing before us
Releasing its sanguine sap
Scars from battles past
Cover our bodies
Like roadmaps
One cut
Always answered with another
Raised red superhighways
On a flesh map
Documenting a journey of struggle
Suddenly
Out of gas
Absent of argument
My fighting spirit
Leaves me
And empty of hatred’s noise
Love’s silence fills the vacuum
Awakening the heart
That seeks to heal over hurt
I challenge you to chance
Taking off your armor
To stand naked before me
Completely vulnerable
Allowing
The scared little girl
Who feels alone
In a world
That chews people up
Like popcorn
To risk falling down
…or falling in love
To embrace
The scared little boy
Who fears dying
Before he has given birth
To the offspring
He carries Inside
Lop off your head
Excise the logic
That rests atop endless plans
For the future
While avoiding the present
Collapse in a heap
At my feet
Where I will stroke your hair
As the spark of your mouth’s edges
Catch fire
Into a toothy grin
We’ve been in combat so long
I’ve forgotten the smile
Beyond the war cry
I loosen my grip
As white knuckles
Strangle your sword
While red anger
Strangles your heart
Unable to trust
What is right in front of you
Needing a long-term treaty
Before you will even consider
Putting down your sword
Because betrayal
Has turned
Words into weapons
Instead of water into wine
I drop to my knees
A sign of weakness
For one who has never
Passed on a fight
Harder on this warrior’s pride
Than his joints
Hoping you will join me
Feel safe
Without having to destroy
What you see as standing
in your way
I close my eyes
And welcome death
Keeping hope
But losing faith
“Fight me!” you shout
Your commitment to winning
A game that has been played
Over and over
And should be
boxed and discarded
Your rage makes you
Blind to see
The fighter is slain
A lover remains
As I live
Not my will, but thine, be done
Unable to relinquish
The fight
Without extracting
Your pound of flesh
With one swoop
Of your sword
You separate
The lobe from my ear
You have been wounded so many times
You are incapable of leaving me whole
I don’t flinch
As blood runs down my neck
And soaks my shoulder
You turn and walk away
Leaving me deformed
Too cowardly
To finish what you started
And all I can do
Is kneel here
And pray for death
Under the justification of
Protecting the little girl
You have smothered her
When all she wanted to do
Was play with the little boy
Who she could remember meeting
If you would put down your sword
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