I took a walk in the park
The sun and sky blinding
The leaves striking against their gold and blue
Amongst the laughter of children
The barks of dogs, the trills of sparrows
I found something I had thought forever lost
Atop sharp green blades

I took a stroll down the beach
The brutal cliffs beside me made peaceful
By the bleary air and lulling, roaring waves
Amongst the footprints of my friends now gone ahead
The calm gray sky, the marooned flotsam
I once again found a castaway scrap
Of that thing assumed dead and gone

I sat and sondered in a subway car
The people like so many atoms, making up all I know
But so uncountable and distant, with their many quirks and dreams
And yet as the old woman next to me got up to leave
Both frail and strong, slow but quick
She handed me another forgotten piece
And it glowed so brightly the enshadowed tunnel shone

I stood alone amidst a crowd
Voices boomed unhearable
I laughed heartily, consumed by terror
And amongst the group’s darkened, nigh distorted faces
A piercing smile, a divine shining voice
Unveiled these known strangers’ eyes and the kindness behind
And all glanced invitingly at that last lost remnant now magically between us

I forged a weapon from these oddments
Smelted them in a once neglected furnace
Fueled with the warm, once rejected gifts from those I love
And with this hard earned weapon I fought the lurking darkness
Which had stalked me even at the park, the beach, the subway, and the crowd
It was an unwinnable fight, but still I went to war
And scared the darkness back