Christo comes through

 (A lone voice whispers)

Nobody knows me but I

A secret self I tried to hide from all

Until I died

For I was like the rarest of diamond

Found in a lifetime of searching

Only in the roughest of the rough

The unquenchable thirst 

Who was never sated and never knew 

Or embraced that word many submissively surrender to

Called Enough

I was born unbreakable in the darkness 

After two

On Christmas Eve 

In 1952

My mother said when she first saw me and really embraced her firstborn 

That my chestnut eyes seemed to whisper 

I see you too 

When she looked on

Such a gifted child to be constantly drawn to others with a similar light

She prophesied 

Leaving me a love letter from mother to son

Which amongst other lines simply said 

Chase happiness son as the world still turns and your candle still burns

Is that why you return as do I 

Here every night

Did you 

When I first met you by a little rock 

See something shimmering that sparkled and shone like a diamond 

As it tried to hide

Camouflaged

Like a hunter on a quest on a deserted island 

You see I need no remits

Or permits to breakthrough 

For my silver scrying mirror

The one given to me by Houdini who lives in here

Helps me escape to see you

For life 

As I look back was so cruel

Like fighting a one-sided duel within tragic ever-changing rules

Especially like when I set sail 

And just like RMS Titanic racing to her doom

Painted by Tatiana Yamshanova

Memories that still haunt me

Even in this very moment 

In this lonely room like a neverending hangover

My ship

The Fatal Maidens Kiss

 

Sank and if you're reading this

Just know I'll always carry your red balloon and crave a smell 

Once again

Of your Chanel No. 5 perfume

And that particular taste of that magical binding potion

We once as innocent strangers drank

When my first words introduced me

And from that day we first met 

Like two ships passing in the night

My beloved mother's last few lines 

She left for me to read in her will

Still echo

As I feel each line of everything she once said 

Especially the last line

When simply read

Chase happiness son

For it doesn't come too easily to the dead

Copyright John Duffy