The Flipside of Hope? {Poetry}

By Joel Pelegrina

Perhaps:

I am the gray in the sky before the rain.

I am the way you deny yourself pleasure and only focus on the pain.

I am the hocus-pocus of all the locusts that decimate the rate at which fresh greens grow on your ancient plain.

I am the substances, once wholly embraced, from which now you abstain.

I am the laughter emanating from the chaff and the sorrow thrust upon the grain.

I am the bane of your existence and the persistent stain on the windowpane overlooking the state of your mental fitness.

I am a witness to the shame that has you feeling inane stealing glances from mirrors unobstructed by frame hung in hallways of blame.

I am the waiting in vain.

Once enamored with the itinerant life of the wayfarer, Joel Pelegrina now finds himself most at home when wiling away the hours whittling driftwood words into wondrous shapes both exotic and known. Each handcrafted piece is lovingly made, carved with an array of ancient implements equal parts archaic and modern, with methods both traditional and avant-garde. Needless to say, it is not for the flea market or occasional arts & crafts fair for which these relics are made, although in such company they would most perfectly reside; no, these artifacts and totems are meant for more personal locales, in the lofty residences of all those of open mind and gypsy soul, perhaps best placed on the mantels of all the inner sanctums in which we find the most solace.