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I found the dungeon
where I secreted
my precious memory
and guard it like gold
in dark with dragon
breath. I
am the guard
of my treasure.
Look
at me transform from
human to dragon
to guard my own stuff.
Look at me, password
forgotten and scared
to meet mystery
without the heart of
the matter, the fear
I wasn’t ready
to face before, but
now must see myself
in order to move on.
Look at me stopped here
at the gate without
my fare—the sword or
word that will open
sesame—I locked
it too well, and so
I face myself to
find myself and take
steps further into
the mystery of me
where the
Great Spirit
waits to
embrace me
with love.
I
love how you
read me, I love
how you are
the I when
you read
aloud.
Copyright © 2016 Susan L. Chast
This is wonderful, my friend. I love that we seek the magic that opens the gate....the key we ourselves have hidden. Love the closing stanza especially. I see a Path of Pendleton book of poems coming out of your time there. You are diving deeply.
ReplyDeleteLoved this even more today, the more so as I am currently reading Elizabeth Gilbert's latest on writing, which is all about unearthing the inner treasures....and mystery. Synchronicity! Love the closing lines especially!
ReplyDeleteI like the mystery in this poem, the searching and the finding the place where the Great Spirit waits to embrace. I wanted to enter in to this poem so that I could feel the love even more.
ReplyDeleteVery, very nice.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way we have those words inside... Maybe we need those keys and passwords.
ReplyDeleteThe more worldly we become the less we are ourselves. How important it is to find this place you write of in order to really be ourselves and not slaves to other's whims and the broken world.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, there is such a wonderful and magical quality to this poem :D the images of memories which are guarded like gold are precious and exquisite :D Beautifully penned!
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
"I face myself to / find myself" this is my favorite journey too...
ReplyDeleteWe do lock things deep inside us..forget the password as it were..loved the analogy.
ReplyDeleteSo much to love in this epic poem - I am the guard of my treasure - a wonderful thing to have and to strive for..there is a peace in this..a wonder and a knowing..like talking to yourself in the very best way..and who can resist a dragon..
ReplyDeleteA beautiful paradox – resolved.
ReplyDeleteSuch an imaginative piece, which reads as a personal testament.
ReplyDeletememories are more precious than gold and the heart is indeed the secret cave we guard.
ReplyDeleteI love the inner-dance that takes places within these lines. The way the speaker speaks to self and about self... The whole poem makes me think of mirrors.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love your imaginative transformation to dragon, Susan. Such a courage to admit to yourself, to see the whole 'you'..., and I adore the last stanza especially.
ReplyDeleteThis is exquisite. I love the finding of the Self, the watching(reading),the selfdiscovery of your own mystery. The last stanza is wonderful.
ReplyDelete"Look
ReplyDeleteat me transform from
human to dragon
to guard my own stuff." Often the secrets are twisted. As they say, life is nothing but tricks...
This goes to prove the old adage!! The concluding lines are impeccable! Loved this, Susan.
Look at me.....the journey to oneself to find oneself...the last stanza is beyond amazing. Knowing how dragons guard their gold, I found this self dragon guarding the gold within even more compelling.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the keys and passwords appear when we least expect them. It's a great blessing to have that secret cave.
ReplyDeleteSteve K.
I used to liken our minds to floppy disks, sometimes there's not much space anymore but we still keep more important files (secrets / memories).
ReplyDeletePeople we meet can judge us but unless they know our "passwords" they can only assume things.
Have a nice day, Susan
Anything with dragons, locked places, and mysteries wins me over immediately...but THIS: "I face myself to
ReplyDeletefind myself"---that is so exquisitely profoundly stated. Love it :-)
I face myself to
ReplyDeletefind myself and take
steps further into
the mystery of me....
what a way to unfold oneself...
Great writing here
i smiled when i read "password forgotten and scared.."
ReplyDeleteotherwise i think it is about a serious subject, how much we know about ourselves now, and how we may not know about ourselves in the future.
my weird opinion, must be the dragon in the illustration. :)
Love this - which, for me, felt very much like an ode to contemplation and introspection. That, I believe, is the key to the "treasure". A beautiful, insightful, eloquent piece.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, you made your theme speak :) Lovely!
ReplyDeleteZQ