Redemption (i)

She ambled through the mysterious city
carrying all of her necessaries
in a patchwork-quilted bag
tossed carelessly over her left shoulder.
She marvelled at the magnificence all around her,
but she no longer knew who she was.

Sometimes she collapsed
under the weight of the shattered voices
that cast out the ribbons to ensnare her,
to bind her, to drag her back
to a place that no longer existed.

And as she wandered the strange streets of her new life,
lost amongst the steel and glass towers of the daring,
she paused to pick up pieces of her lost self.
Some were familiar and recognizable,
others were exotic and extraordinary.

At the end of the day,
ensconced in her tiny room,
surrounded by the seeds of newness,
she puzzled over how it all went together.
And even when the light grew dim
and none of the pieces fit,
she continued to collect and save them,
sorting them carefully into boxes labelled,
"Strength"...."Confidence"...."Determination"

And she used the trailing ribbons
to tie the boxes shut.

DLD/05JUL07

Escape (iii)

And she flew away on borrowed wings.

Every time she checked
(trying to be as unobtrusive as possible),
the ribbons of self-reproach had again become entangled,
tripping up her feet and twisting amongst her heartstrings.

Each time, she quickly snatched up the errant threads,
tore them from their new moorings,
and buried them under future details.

From her satchel, she retrieved a book
with an unadorned cover of soft brown leather
and a delicate ribbon of red silk to mark her page.
She reached into her pocket for the weighted fountain pen
that perfectly fit her grasp.

She opened to the first page
and began to write.

For a day and a night and yet another day
the words poured from her pen,
like drops of blood from her fingertips.

DLD/03JUL07

Escape (ii)

She stood in line at the airport,
a pair of sunglasses with scratched lenses
dangling from her mouth,
while she absentmindedly checked her pockets,
wondering which one contained her passport.

The clerk glanced contemptuously at her small battered valise.
It wasn't sturdy enough to imprison the demons of her past,
and appeared far too humble to hold
the seeds of a new start.

She hefted the worn suitcase onto the conveyor belt,
then gathered up the incessant unending threads of guilt and unfulfilled obligations.
She impatiently stuffed the lot of them into her purse in a tangled mess.
"Snakes' honeymoon," she whispered,
not quite only to herself,
with a lopsided almost smile.

She narrowly dodged the barbed claws,
soaked overnight in sanctimonious retribution,
and said, "Anywhere. It doesn't matter."

The signature on the back of her credit card
was faded almost beyond recognition.

DLD/02JUL07

Escape

She packed her heartache
into a battered leather valise with
scuffed-up edges and a broken lock,
and left.

Her past trailed out behind her
in long ribbons of barely acknowledged resentment
and unexpressed sorrow.

She surged into the unknown
with hardly a backward glance,
pushing her hair into place and adjusting her collar,
on the outside chance
that someone might notice
and give her a break.

DLD/01JUL07