Awoken from slumber, burial’s rehearsal,
I felt a clamant, innate need
to disclose truths deep-seated, best left said:
it oft seems that for very many of us
life is a squall, not a gale, let alone a breeze,
more headwinds than tailwinds,
tender mercies few and far between.
My chiefest hope is that hopelessness
is amiss, despair spurious;
admittedly, that which we wish to be true
we readily believe, so as to relieve
acute existential angst,
but consciously or otherwise we choose
either trust or dubiety for company,
and only trust brings along
an affable sidekick, comfort.
∞
Brandon Marlon is a writer from Ottawa, Canada. He received his B.A. in Drama & English from the University of Toronto and his M.A. in English from the University of Victoria. His poetry was awarded the Harry Hoyt Lacey Prize in Poetry (Fall 2015), and his writing has been published in 250+ publications in 28 countries.
