Redemption
A "Masks We Wear" Challenge Entry
Melancholic haze of autumn’s ache whispers,
Beckons surging waves upon the ocean’s crest
Creating a dark mask of telling foreshadowing,
An unearthed, foreboding of overwhelming sadness -
Sending fleeting, withered dreams upon the wind,
Resembling leaves adrift in the vastness of my mind
As they drift to scatter across dying gardens in my soul;
A deep-seated sowing of life's emotional platitudes.
*
I greet the masses, and I smile,
My mask placed firmly to block their curiosity
Whilst remains no cessation in my quest for
The evasive peace from prying eyes.
Strengthening, my melancholy wreaks havoc,
Draining and mummifying my soul’s river,
To reflect my long craved, thirst driven drought –
A need to touch the wind and escape it all.
*
With the ache of autumn, a rise of murmurs haunt,
Mirror a lack and loss of all sustained hope.
Winter descends to lure me to find a new destiny as
It creeps and invades every dusty corner of my heart
With a raging river of ice, filling life's final cracks,
Boldly reaching an acceptance and a reckoning
Of cold petulance and encroaching darkness to overwhelm.
Frigid, ice infused waters crack and melancholy succumbs.
*
Alas, my breath releases, surging uncaged with force,
A sigh so grand, it captures a depth of calming awareness.
My mask, now broken and dislodged, falls free,
Unfettering the damaged marble of my face;
I feel a crispness of the air in rivulets of freedom,
Carried on newfound, long sought waves of peace.
All melancholy is disengaged, lingering but for a bit to gaze
At a new mask wrought from fires of fate's dilatory redemption.
About the Creator
Cindy Calder
From Charleston SC - "I am still learning." Michelangelo
Keep reading
More stories from Cindy Calder and writers in Poets and other communities.
Comments (13)
Congrats on top story!! Well deserved!
A mesmerizing sonnet, Cindy!! Congrats on Top Story!!
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
I dabble at best in poetry, When I read works like this I know it is what I hope to achieve one day. so much packed in here, the flow mesmerizes the reader. I read and re-read this line I found it so powerful- 'My mask, now broken and dislodged, falls free,'
Dang, you just bottled an entire season’s worth of heartbreak and healing into verse. 💖
"I greet the masses, and I smile, My mask placed firmly to block their curiosity Whilst remains no cessation in my quest for The evasive peace from prying eyes." I felt this so deeply, Cindy. I surely hope to see this among the winners. Fantastic work and so emotive!🌹
This poem is so powerful, Cindy, it feels like you forged it in the depths of your soul. My favorite lines are “I feel a crispness of the air in rivulets of freedom, Carried on newfound, long sought waves of peace.“
“I greet the masses, and I smile, My mask placed firmly to block their curiosity Whilst remains no cessation in my quest for The evasive peace from prying eyes.” Ooofta I love this
There are soooo many beautiful lines here but my most favourite is the first one! Loved your poem!
Your poem does give one a lot to think about and maybe a way to see how to work through whatever the issue. Great job.
It is amazing how much torment our minds and psyches can wreak upon the shores of self. The image you selected truly captures the essence of peaking through a mask and longing to be known instead of hidden. Your poem stings as such thoughts and feelings always do, and all the more so from personal experience. I like that you gave the protagonist of your poem a bit of relief in the end. In the line ‘I feel the crispness in the air in rivets of freedom’ - did you intend to use rivulets in keeping with your water metaphors? Wonderful, powerful poem, Cindy!
Such a great entry for the challenge, Cindy!
congratulations on TS, this truly deserves it. I knew a person who went through the last years of his life in this situation. How I wish he could have gotten the help he needed.