This Is Me

Self Portrait shot by me

The Irish troubles brewed within me until they blew each other apart.

See my Irish blue eyes, my earth eyes, my eyes like marble earth.

Catholic and Protestant (and Celtic old) frozen into Germanic strength.

Through these eyes, these hurt eyes, these wizened eyes

I saw Rome, the Rome of men, the Rome of crosses, I crossed

the earth to see it, I'd always wanted to, and I saw the burning

crosses of war, of persecution, of execution affixed to churches

in every piazza and I knew they burned inside of me killing

mankind, persecuting people, creating prejudice that had lived

since tribal times..bound in flaxen cords, bound with the wisps

of my fair hair bleached from lack of sunlight in caves. There

were the people, my people removed from blackest Africa to

Northern climes; oh yes, check out the road maps on my palms

the wanderlust imprinted there.   I followed those roads out of the

heartland where the Irish had come, out of Missouri and Oklahoma

away to Texas to a native place and to Louisiana to soak up that

Frenchness that is only a small percent of my crooked smile, my

need for richness, for design, for beauty, for the odd, the curious,

the weird, the occult, (oh the celtic call was strong in New Orleans)

there there I found another part of me, the time traveler, the wizard,

the artist. On across the nation where I was born, traveler of place

state to state, time to time, ice to glacier, hope to city, energy to

corn field, gold leaves to mountains, green granite to desert flame.

Where in my face can you see love, tenderness and kindness; I

suppose it's there though my brow claims intelligence first, and last.

My sturdy body would have wanted stronger legs and feet, though

never fast they moved over many roads, and up to highest stars.

Can you see my partners, my consorts, my friends hiding behind me?

They're only shadows leaving their hopes, designs, and needs on me.

But I come forward to say that there is order, it's written on my

freckled countenance and that order comes from courage to change,
and will to protect, to care, to construct, not to tear down, not to
do harm, not to put myself first, but to change for good, to give, to love.

© Gay Reiser Cannon – 10/27/2012 * All Rights Reserved