i have labored for a thousand years <br />to build the ark that rides out <br />the storm... <br />to bring peace to a war torn earth, <br />to bring healing and understanding. <br />i have bowed in prayer with all faiths, <br />in temples, in mosques, in huts. <br />i have come in many forms, <br />red, brown, black, and white, <br />male and female both. <br />i have listened without judgement, <br />i have felt what you have felt. <br />i have known your poverty, <br />and your anguish, <br />and the insides of your prisons. <br />i have felt your passions, your hatreds, <br />your fears, and your hopes... <br />i have forgiven, and been forgiven. <br />i have taken lovers, <br />and stood with friends; <br />i have fallen again and again. <br />i have believed past the point of faith. <br />i have known both light and darkness. <br />i have tended the fire all through the night, <br />i have ran naked in the rain. <br />i am each of you, and nothing else, <br />and more than we understand. <br />i have spoken the last word spoken, <br />and now my time has come... <br /> <br />no longer the man <br />who feeds the branches to the fire, <br />i become the branches, <br />the flame, and the warmth... <br />and taking the form of light, <br />i kiss the darkness one last time... <br />with hope!<br /><br />Eric Cockrell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poet-s-farewell/
