Once again, I was so busy yesterday  that I neglected to write a poem. I did make up for it by writing two today, but I didn’t follow yesterday’s prompt despite being a great exercise (“translate” a poem in a foreign). I did, however, follow today’s prompt: write a “poem of greeting.” So, without further adieu, here are two poems for you (hey, that rhymed! HA!)

Day 16:
Misunderstanding
By Nathan Marchand

Was it all a misunderstanding?
The year you admired me,
The day your attraction grew,
The flabbergasted joy of holding hands,
The adventures we shared?
Through it all, there was no love.
I was only a friend—
A friend who fell in love
For the first time in his life,
Who, despite no wrongdoing,
Was gently released and left alone,
Like a tamed animal abandoned in the wild.
You walked away without a drop of malice
While I, wounded, limped home
To lick wounds that may not heal.

Day 17:
Awestruck Greeting
By Nathan Marchand

I, surrounded by darkness, walked toward the light.
Touching it, I was enveloped by it, and transported
To gates of purest gold, shiner than bronze.
They opened wide and there stood a familiar stranger:
A face I had always imagined but never seen.
He, smiling, extended a scarred hand to me and said,
“Welcome, My servant, My child, My brother, My friend.”

I was awestruck at this, a sight beyond imagination.
Slowly, I raised my hand and took his, locking eyes with him.
He gripped my hand and pulled me into an embrace.
Overwhelmed surprise mingled with joy, I patted his back.
He said, “Well done! You’ve been good and faithful.
Come, share in my happiness. Your room awaits you.”
His hand motioned me toward a new home—my true home.

Words failed me, though I was a writer and a poet.
The day I longed for had come suddenly.
What should I say? Should I say anything?
I’d finally met the man I owed my eternity to,
Yet I couldn’t utter a grateful word or even a greeting.
I paused long to conceive a single sentence,
Finally saying, “Join me on a new adventure!”