Roll The Stone
Roll this stone off my chest, I say, the one
that weighs ten tons. It contains memories
of a thousand deaths, forebears mummified
or packed in dry ice. Make peace with life,
and don’t blame me for your transgressions.
I seek only progression, have no extra grace
to spare, can’t help that you always clutch
lies causing you to despise me, pile on hate.
Roll the stone away. I pine for a safe home,
one where your deceit can’t catch me, tools
of defeat won’t work. The unnatural causes
you concoct in. your insidious belief system
will not accept exacting proof even though
it blasts you between those cavernous eyes.
I’d gladly be a beggar on a street laden with
rubies and gold nuggets would you release
this boulder and get it rolling downhill.l No
Atlas am I, able to hold up an entire world.
Pry this stone off of me if you have enough
mercy left in that empty tank of a soul you
hide behind. You’re stripped raw, deluded,
must make what pain you’re able to before
the hour glass runs out and then you realize
you’re slipping into oblivion with no choice.
I would be a pagan or a saint, pauper, prince,
president, scribe of ancient scrolls or giant,
and still I’d grunt under such massive weight.
So long as this boulder still holds me down
I am powerless and you know it. Don’t laugh
just to see me cry for you’ve nowhere to hide
yourself, as guilty of crimes as any have been.
Remove this stone with what power you retain
before it’s too late. I may suffocate. Perhaps this
would bring you joy, reward your alter ego, feed
a frantic id, fulfill a false prophecy, one you buy
innately without giving it any particular thought.
I can’t go on like this forever, your captive slave.
And surely you don’t want to see me squirm for
all eternity. The city lights are gleaming. Virgins
carry tulips in their arms, caress the clouds while
circling skies. To their spirits you had best abide.
Thomas Piekarski is a former editor of the California State Poetry Quarterly. His poetry has appeared in such publications as The Journal, Poetry Salzburg, Modern Literature, The Museum of Americana, South African Literary Journal, and Home Planet News. His books of poetry are Ballad of Billy the Kid, Monterey Bay Adventures, Mercurial World, Aurora California, and Opus Borealis.
