Hour Thirteen (One Side of a Coin) 11:11<\/p>\n
Cracking the shell of identity
\ntiptoe down the minefield
\nof popular opinion –
\nto where even the waters
\nof emotion are infiltrated
\nby metallurgic constructs
\nintended to eviscerate
\nthe existence of personal desire
\nand choice.
\nMindful and with agile movements,
\nslink through with nimble reflexes
\nin one’s pursuit of happiness.
\nBone white shells empty
\nof the embryotic components
\nof the potential future life-
\nexiled into the bellies of opinion
\nand methods with which to avoid
\nthe tripwire –
\nof enemy landmines shrouded in rubble.<\/p>\n
There is no map
\nor destination set-
\njust a juggernaut tumbling
\nthrough an emotional gauntlet.
\nThe eggshells tossed haphazardly
\nlike a Rorschach test
\nthat can never be passed,
\ndespite it’s obvious intent
\nof metaphorical subjectivity.
\nJutting edges crushed under
\nbare feet bearing the
\nteeth marks of projected shame-
\na shaking of heads
\nknitting sweaters on brows.
\nBottles swing over barstools
\nwith inebriated idle passing curiosity
\nand drunk from the power of influence
\nwell-intended or otherwise
\nand then…<\/p>\n
…another explosion
\nrapping like an unwanted guest
\nat the door to the outlook of destination-
\ninner monologue, a stammer
\ntripping over the vice grips
\nof crowd control.
\nThe sting of well-intentioned advice
\nsome, averting a potential threat-
\nothers a lead to cause to question
\nwhether shadenfreude the main pursuit.
\nListen to the click and clatter of
\nshell casings within a
\nmachine gun spray of
\nyes’s and no’s
\nstops and go’s.
\nPulse cocking back the hammer
\nfilleting the insides of my chest
\nwith the knockback
\nas yet another dull crack
\nrips open the firmament-
\na delayed response to prospective dreams,
\nconquests, and purpose.
\nFeet enshrouded with padded guilt
\ntripping over thoughts and decisions
\nbalking at every opportunity
\nbefore another rumble from
\nthe bowels of misstep-
\nthe punishment, a barrage
\nof cut-downs with the crowd’s arsenal
\nof serrated objection. <\/p>\n
Walk upon the balls of feet,
\nslipping upon the curvature
\nmassaging the arch of back of yet
\nanother stumbling block-
\neach movement tentative
\nuntil one considers the subtle
\nvoice of truth whispered
\nin spiritual ears that can become muffled
\nby the sounds of a silent roar-
\na clamor of impression.
\nIndentations pressed with nails to palm.<\/p>\n
When one finds stillness within oneself
\nthe noise becomes muted
\nlike cotton on a speaker.
\nWhisper a response to that voice
\na prayer for clarity and confidence.
\nSteady the swallow of breath
\ncatching like a love knot
\nwithin one’s throat
\ntied up and twisted
\nuntil intuition and discernment unravels
\nthe barbed-wire chokehold
\nand watch as personal truth
\nand decision-God’s voice and timing
\nsmooths out the path. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hour Thirteen (One Side of a Coin) 11:11 Cracking the shell of identity tiptoe down the minefield of popular opinion – to where even the waters of emotion are infiltrated by metallurgic constructs intended to eviscerate the existence of personal desire and choice. Mindful and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[5772,5765,680,3019,2158,326,15,228,391,10,355,390,1084],"class_list":["post-138292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","tag-2023fullmarathon","tag-2023poetrymarathon","tag-poetrymarathon","tag-24-hour-poetry-marathon","tag-full-marathon","tag-marathon","tag-poem","tag-poems","tag-poet","tag-poetry","tag-poetry-marathon","tag-writer","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1485"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138292"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138618,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138292\/revisions\/138618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}