An Echo

nothing like the pain
a pain that comforts
a pain that brings forth new life

nothing like the scream of a warrior advancing
the fierce determination to make right what is wrong in the world
a scream in search of itself
a scream which is but a feint echo of what is real
what is far away
what is close

the drill
the drill is a dance seeking the perfect music
it is movement perfecting the dance
it is Her shadow and His pleasure
it is a bridge across the creeks and rivers
that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary

There is noting like the pain
nothing like the intoxication of mad men
who discover they are brothers
and end the war

Nothing like the warrior's shout
when a child is born
the woman is safe from harm
or her man returns home from
absence of tender moments together


energy spun by the magic of dancers dancing
listen to the wind blow through caverns
of deep contemplation
find spring before it becomes summer
stand in between
find the ocean before it touches the shore
sand in between

find the calm before it becomes a storm
and stand in between
find truth before it becomes fiction
and strike at the heart
of things
then
the warrior becomes a sage

and the pain
it is still there
it is a reminder
of the need for tenderness
and compassion
it is our longing to be free



Thomas White © 2011