For Kiefer

For Kiefer

Faint echoes whispered words soft screams
Mumblings born of raging currents of contradiction
Demands of pride and needs of soul in all consuming conflict
Each insists upon the upper hand but neither one prevails
He tells himself he wants to be what everyone thinks he is
A partial truth at best--he knows

For while his pride celebrates his hard earned place
Among the high and mighty-- beside the lucky few
His heart and soul are filled with everlasting cravings
Quieted only by a bottle and the company of those
Who belong to the world he used to know
The world he fought so hard to leave behind


He tries for caution--always fearful of taking the final step
From the place of his creation--a region of neither here nor there 
He tries for caution but fails to stem the passion
That drives him deeper and deeper into the danger zone
Faint echoes whispered words soft screams bid for choice
Feeding the chilling terror of never having had a choice at all