Vanquished

Fiercely, as the lioness does her young,
         did I protect the best-loved child --
                             the little girl within.

Thus, with unbridled anger,
         did I attack the friend;
and with no less ferocity did I love,
         and having known love returned,
                             trust the enemy.


Enemy, friend:
         What is the distinction? They are but one.
Hate, love:
         A single intricately orchestrated emotion.


Tenuous Reality shouted a final defiant cry,
         but finding fickle Truth an unsupportive comrade,
                                                           retreated.
Looking on,
         Death saw Reality's final shudder
                   and claimed the VICTORY.


Mournful cries echo in the heart where
vanquished Reality is entombed.

Inscribed above, her epitaph:
"Brittle with age,
she could not bear the weight of knowledge."

                                                 Youth offers a sorrowful lament
                                                                     for the companion of her days.


--written 1990