The path to redemption takes many shapes,
shapes one only suspected when long ago warned of dangers aplenty,
temptations precluding downfalls, all punctuated by pre-emptive lust
My God, I now understand your promise of righteousness
is the downfall mutated, a melting pot of sheer denial.

May tonight be the night of reconciliation.
May we pick up these golden shreds, spilled over countless expeditions
further fragmented beyond recognition
fueled by faceless fear and famine in the form of random desire
Until we can no longer tell what the hell has been driving us all along.

May tonight be a night for acceptance
the right seasoning of tenderness and brutality
the wholeness we have been craving ever since.

We shall raise tomorrow and face the rat race
as if a celebration unfolded before us,
as if pure joy poured from every pore
right before the sore eyes of this desolate witness.

We shall open our senses, tomorrow, as soon as tomorrow breaks,
and begin counting allies, forgiving enemies, recruiting strategists.
We shall forget the age-old adagios, whispered through centuries of avarice,
and walk the world as if for the first time.

For F., for D., for J.,

for the countless masters I have crossed paths with