All Along

All Along

Jan 1

Written By Dane Dowell

The frost had already fallen.

Night owls retreated to their wooded nests.

The horizon faint,

Dawn was drawing near.

A sleepless night,

I tossed from side to side,

Resisting the pull of a powerful riptide.

Mind racing, eyes wide,

So exposed, no place to hide.

Always at night,

How our doubts confide.

Why are you so angry? Why did you say that?

Stop being so emotional. Stop being defensive.

What about money? Where will you live?

What are you doing? What is your purpose?

Why can’t you let things simply be?

All this effort, longing to be free,

Crying out, a desperate plea,

You’re dying in this desert, why can’t you see?

Will this haunting ever cease?

What will it take for you to find peace?

Despite all the paths that you could roam,

Will you ever truly find your home?

So. Many. Questions.

No answers came—angst only grew,

The pull of the tide, suffocating, true,

When at last my body finally broke,

Surrendering to the current,

Swept out to sea,

My mind shut down and my soul awoke.

I could feel the pulse

Before the dream took shape.

Sitting around a fire,

A barren landscape.

The rhythm called,

My heart matched the beat.

I could not sit.

I rose from my seat.

I inhaled and listened.

Then exhaled, unconditioned,

Swaying to the melody,

Embracing the revery,

Swirling like smoke,

Unburdened, no yoke.

My eyes opened—familiar faces,

Welcomed, warm embraces.

Everyone lost in their own dance.

The chords progressed; we were in a trance.

Our eyes met, smiling with each glance.

Our hearts swelled,

Boundless expanse.

The crackling flames,

Dancing shadows on the ground,

The heat kissed my cheeks,

A circle of light,

The dark land now crowned.

Together we came from near and far,

Just as we were—as we are.

There was no judgment, there was no bar;

Releasing the grip of all our scars,

We danced in the glow of the fire and stars.

How much time transpired,

I do not know,

But gathered together around the fire,

Residing in the music,

Our souls soared higher.

As the light crept in, the dream dissolved,

Leaving behind a feeling—resolved.

Ephemeral, at first, my words escaped me,

But I sensed what my core has known all along:

All the voices inside my head were wrong.

Drowned in the percussive beat, so strong,

Lost in the movement of a wordless song,