This is a bit more of a personal poem than I'm used to sharing with
people. Most of the writing I let people see is the political, but since
it's all about breaking down barriers, I thought it was apt to post it. I
had written a long explanation to it, but I think it's better left open to
interpretation, and for people to take what they want from it, if it means
somthing to them. This isn't a poem about depression, I've never been
depressed, this is a poem about hope, love and opening one's heart.
'A Rock of Ages'
You can bury your head in books,
Or strongly held convictions,
Politics and philosophy,
Parties, protests and conventions;
But what is it for
If they’re just sand?
A rock to the world outside,
But of ages, turning to dust;
Fragile and insular,
Building barriers
To hide away the pain –
Not marked upon this unblemished flesh
By any razor visible to the eye;
Yet festering with outward vanity.
When the mirror before you is a portrait,
Of Dorian Gray
With a Midas touch,
But all that glitters is not gold;
One must learn to love again,
Pull down those graffitied walls
And barbed wire fences,
Open your heart to all around
And paint a bigger picture.
There is beauty,
To love the world
Again.
Salman Shaheen
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