Part I · The High School Era (1992–1996)
I arise as if from a sleep
On a bed familiar to me.
Relieved to live, I begin to weep.
Success is mine! My people are free!
I turn out from the bed and leave the room.
Outside stand God, Earth, Sun, and Moon.
Earth steps forward to take my hand, and says:
“Live free, brother, you have saved the land!
No longer are you a child, now you are a man.
I knew you were pure and without vice.
I dub thee Lord, and thine name, Paradise.”
From our eyes the vision fades.
We return to our work with new resolve.
The dream will last, ‘till the end of our days.
Reality is a puzzle we must strive to solve.
Composed 1992–1996 · part of the Poems collection · authorship documented on the Provenance page.