Senseless

I look in the mirror
and question what I see
"What do others think
when they see me?"

My eyes have power to judge
every passing thing
My ears are attuned
to every tiny ring

My voice can sing praise
or it can degrade
"How can I control it
when I am afraid?

My hands have betrayed
this heart they protect
"They give and they give
but never collect"

My legs walk fine lines
but sometimes they kick
"Why would someone get close
when I strike so quick?"

My minds wraps itself
'round life's mysteries
It fights to grow deep
like roots of strong trees

I ponder and wonder
at the world and attest
"Amongst such beauty and danger
there will never be rest!"

I hear a small voice stir
but continue to protest:

"The stinging bee is masked
in the shell of a flower
How can petals so sweet
hide something so sour?"

"It's thanks to your senses
the world has its power"

For a moment I'm stunned
someone's even there
But it doesn't take long
to continue my prayer

"The darkness of night
The warmth of the sun
Both kill in the desert
insensate as a gun"

"Without light and shadow
everything would be one"

Trickling rain seeps through the roof
The pattering splatter echoing round
"Why do storms deliver reproof
and tempt my aching soul to drown?"

"If not for your ears you'd never hear
this force of nature tumbling down"

"And what of mine eyes?
Oh, the pains they've seen today!
What, oh what is to be said
of the terrors on display?"

"Without your eyes you'll never see
the person you'll be at the end of the day"

My temper rages hot
It turns my heart numb
"I have no patience to see
the person I may become!"

The voice is silent and leaves me be
I may as well be deaf and dumb

In silence I can retreat
and hide from the light
With eyes closed no one cares
if I'm wrong or if I'm right

At least there's no pain
without sound, without sight

In time my hands tire
of clamping down my ears
In time fists loosen
and dry away tears

My eyes open again
and I search for the switch
So I can pull myself out
of this self-dug ditch

Ears prick at a sound
and I look aloft
To find the veiled source
of my name spoken soft

"Child, my dearest
Child, you're mine
I know how it hurts
to have wounds washed in brine

"This world can entice,
entrance, overwhelm
And at times it may seem
I've deserted the helm

"But look again please
Just listen once more
You'll see all the things
which I have in store

"See with your soul
Hear with your heart
And you will remember
what you knew from the start"