The Prisoner Within

The Prisoner Within

♫ Music for the Soul [listen while you read]♫

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I enter a dimly-lit room,

You are sitting on the couch,

your face wet with tears.

~

A song plays softly in the background.

I know the tune but not the singer.

It doesn’t matter.

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How long have you sat there,

with your thoughts?

Your body held in place by invisible chains?

~

You look up

and smile apologetically

and my heart breaks for you.

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Oh, my beautiful friend,

you have nothing to be ashamed of.

For it is not the outer person I see;

only the brave man trapped inside.

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If asked, could you tell me what burdens you?

Or is the sadness so deep,

you feel the answer inaccessible?

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Who do you weep for, my friend?

Is it for the man lost?

or the boy struggling for acceptance?

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I remember a day at the beach,

soon after I met you, before I knew your story.

We walked and talked;

talked and talked the full length of the sand

to the rocks at the far end.

~

At their very edge

you stood in the spray of the crashing waves,

the breeze whipping around us

and you laughed out loud;

a shout of pure joy.

~

With your arms wide,

you challenged the ocean and the swell,

leaning forward on that uneven rock,

defying gravity,

laughing all the while.

~

And I saw, in a magical moment, your spirit soar free,

and glimpsed you, the boy within,

and fell in love.

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©cjaudas 2009

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