Fen

            - a trilogy ... forever escaping normal

NORMAL

            Pronunciation:             \ˈnȯr-məl\
            Function:                    adjective
            Etymology:                 Latin normalis, from norma
            Date:                          circa 1696
            Meaning includes:       occurring naturally

The characteristics

1.   I was single                                            
                                                    You were single

2.   I was white                                             
                                                    You were lilac

3.   I was male                                              
                                                    You were female

4.   I was older                                              
                                                    You were younger

5.   I was one of five                                    
                                                    You were one of three

6.   I was recently abandoned                   
                                                    You were, too

7.   I was on my own                                   
                                                    You were not

8.   I was a professional                             
                                                    You were an innocent youngster

9.   I earned a living                                    
                                                    You gave me life

10. I did not need a rescue                        
                                                    You needed to be rescued

11. I took a chance on you                        
                                                    You were happy to have a chance

12. I let you in                                              
                                                    You took me in

This is I                                       This is you

ESCAPING

When I first heard about you

I thought there’s no way in hell

That I would ever want to share

Any of my space with anyone

Remotely resembling you

And above all –

what would I

Ever do

with a creature

like you

But just like fog escapes

The high rays of expectation

When it drifts past the deserts

Of silence and of despair

So did the thought of “No Way”

Now I am way past them

Those roads of high and far

And most of them traveled

With you right there beside me

Ever caring and ever loving

I had been way past the lowlands

Past common streets and byways

Down in some lone Mexican jail

Then back to the dream of highlands

Where Grand Mesas let me astray

From the deserts of common failures

Where expectations ruled over doubts

Between those oceans of anticipation

Where strangers filled only voids

Arrested for sleeping

On long abandoned roads

But friends came and stayed

While no one else dared

Just like you let me share

Your presence and care

The last time

I experienced satisfaction
I felt like another visitor

A stranger in his own way

Then you helped me escape normal

Showing me another way out

Where am I

heading today?

Who knows where

And who cares

Just leaving normal

Is all that counts

This is us then

FOREVER

            - my epitaph, your legacy

It took something as simple

As a single fee and a form

To take you home with me

And then see myself reborn

It’s funny

how the look of you

then looked

like a fresh start to me

And the sounds

of dogs howling
is forever the sound

of breaking free

This is us now