i am one, too (audio poetry 4:11)

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I am One who carried water
to those who were parched
And stood to the side
while they quenched their deepest thirsts,
Who stepped up when so many others backed away ~
When the call was sounded
I answered with a resounding Yes
Placed the needs of the collective ahead of my own
Renounced the comforts of center and sought out edges
before repeatedly plunging to my so-called life
And walked and crawled
and spilled my blood along the roadway

I am One who traveled bare-hearted
and alone
Whose alienation echoed
even in the crush of madding crowds
I dared to approach the unapproachable
with naked familiarity
Reached out empty hands only to draw them back
moments too soon
I asked Why and Why Not and Why Not Now
and Why Not Me?
And for that beseeching curiosity
I was flogged time and again
with blistering judgment

I am One who earnestly tried to play the game
Who sought winning until I recognized that my losses
far exceeded any gains I might have accrued
along the consensual path,
The one who made headlong rushings
toward a brighter light’s beckoning
Who ran into granite walls and slid a-tumble
in fresh mud underfoot
Until I tore away the blinders that had been provided
on some haze-filled, forgotten day
And rose once again from the bedraggled and dispirited,
That One was me

The Ones who hide in caves
awaiting the safety of acceptance
Who ask for naught save a welcoming invitation,
Are finding their way Home to a resolute belonging
Shucking off ancient chains of oppression
Peeling back the thick bark of becoming
Awakening from a makeshift, cobbled dream
that dimmed an all-encompassing radiance
Reconstructing their very selves from the inside out
Mosaicking the jewels that once lay scattered about
half-hidden in the dirt

The fruit is ripening,
ready to be plucked by the fearless and the hungry
The Ones who choose to unwrap their bindings
may be astonished at what perfection lay beneath
Dig deep, Beloved One,
Remain uncompromising
in your lust for your transcendent life,
You are the One you have longed to meet
I know this, as I am One, too.