SandScript 2023 [Digital Exclusive]

Redefinition
Collin Chadwick
Wisps of a dying galaxy
reflected in his sad eyes:
alone at dusk,
memories of fading sunlight,
layered velvet skies –
a vast compendium
of secret knowledge,
remnants of little tragedies.
No longer the energy to hate,
but no chance of surrender.
I remember him
reciting that tearful eulogy
for what could have been
under the shadow
of the big buildings,
stealing many final
looks at the splintered
wood of the
empty pierhead,
sailing the white tresses
of the open sea.
He forged his own
path to the west
in a torturous voyage
to the edge of silence,
yearning for some
emissary of peace
in the darkness
of a world gone mad.
Sore knuckles reveling
in glorious lassitude,
those ghosts no longer haunt me.
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