Whereabouts and Wanderlust

Painting by Mike Riley


Whereabouts and Wanderlust--the rest of the story

Whereabouts and Wanderlust
traveled hand in hand.
Each one loved the other most
and trekked through many lands.
Altogether they were happy,
blue eyes and blue.
Sleeping children brought them flowers,
with love, from me to you.

And so the story went, my friend,
and went for many years.
The end was unexpected
and came with endless tears.
We somersaulted backwards
and crashed through all the hoops.
Our faces smashed in asphalt
blood and teeth and glass.

Now all these years away
and healing still to do.
I pray that you are happy
and leave this song for you.
There is no benediction
able to erase
these scars upon our hearts,
leaving not a trace.

But the marks we carry
make us who we are,
of crippling unkindness
born out of fear,
echoes of our screaming
ringing in our ears.

Is it our mistakes
that make us who we are?
Or how we learn to live with them
and with each other
in this little bell-jar?

Rick Mobbs