*

During the sojourn of my youth

I ventured on a journey

Across time

and flat land

(I never had tons of verbiage)

 

And why we lived lives of waiting,

hoping for the unhoped

long expecting the unexpected?

 

The guests are due here today

(Our guests will arrive shortly)

 

As a child

I didn’t toy with dirt

I didn’t fight with boys nor girls

– I didn’t toy like children would toy –

I climbed trees and dreamed from the treetops

Gazing into the horizon

As if horizon was the future

As if land had anything to do with time

(Land has nothing to do with time)

 

As a child

I didn’t hope, I didn’t overthink

I dreamt lucid dreams at nights

and dreamed of better days

when I would grow

(I didn’t think I wanted to grow)

I wanted to grow

 

But there won’t be darker days and there won’t be better days

Only the night is dark; the day is brighter than the dark

Days are not darker, nor better

and nights are not better than the days

 

Darker days are not coming

They have been long present

Shadow intruders,

forced guests overstaying their present’s welcome

(Who’s the host and who’s the guest,

who’s guesting which host?)

 

And now what will happen?

Shall I wait for the brighter days?

Days are just days, and nights are just nights

There are good days and bad days;

There would be good days and there would be bad days

There will be days –––––––

And there will be nights;

and these are just dates

But they’re no guests

(guests have no guests)

*

Biography

Stelios Hadjithomas is a lawyer (currently not practicing), a published copywriter, an online editor, a researcher and art professional with a focus on organizational management and user behavior. His interests include contemporary visual art, technology, and marketing. A hopeless romantic at heart, he is also an author working with storytelling, words, speech, and new media. He is currently working on his debut novel andfirst poetry collection. A brother and an uncle, a son and godfather, he comes from a long family of eight. His poetry has appeared in the The Honest Ulsterman and Spontaneity.