Author’s note: A warrior’s battle to find himself after falling to earth. Oh, and…
Thank you, Dr. Seuss,
For letting me loose!
You’re my constant education,
And my greatest inspiration.

~

A good friend said to me recently, “Warriors are not born, they are created from life’s fire.” I believe this, and I should know…

I started my fire, lived through it, and walked out a warrior. Now, a new fire burns inside me, and my words are ignited.

To the ones who got lost,
You know who you are
I’ve got your back;
I’ll show you my scar.

Here’s my story for you,
About finding my voice.
Staring up at the sky,
I had only one choice.

I’ll share you a quote,
That I trust you will get.
‘Cuz we flipped the same boat,
And got horribly wet.

And here are the words,
That helped me get whole
They’re of beauty and hope,
And of love, and of soul.

“Once the soul was perfect and had wings and could soar into heaven as only creatures can. But the soul lost its wings and fell to earth, there it took an earthly body, and now while it lives in this body no outward sign of wings can be seen, yet the roots of its wings are still there and the nature of these is to try to raise the earthbound soul into heaven. When you see a beautiful woman or a man, the soul remembers the beauty it used to know in heaven and the wings begin to sprout and makes the soul want to fly but it cannot yet, the man is still too weak, so the man keeps staring at the sky like a young bird. He has lost all interest in the world around him.” ~ The Phaedrus, Plato

These words are my teachers,
They helped me to sing.
They helped me get strong,
They helped me feel wings.

But I also had help,
From the strength inside me,
And an unlikely friend,
My headless me.

And with that, here’s my letter,
After which, I will scram

So, to my bae (who is me), Headless Selfie, a Warrior Slam:

Thanks headless selfie,
For being my friend.
You’ve been there for me daily,
And helped me to mend.

You’re the consummate threat,
To show progress I’ve made
Your love, unconditional;
The best plan that we laid.

But today I am ready,
To come play outside
My healing’s complete,
So there’s no need to hide.

I’m a warrior now;
I have built myself up
My mission was solo,
My “Knight of Cups.”

And please don’t be sad,
We will still be together
But now with my head,
It will be that much better.

With a confident smile,
And the joy in my face
We’ll shine brighter than ever,
And all over the place.

So my sweet headless selfie,
Let’s say our goodbyes.
I’m a lover of life,
Who’s got love in his eyes.

And those eyes tell the story,
Of the places I’ve been.
“Oh, the places I’ll go!”
That’s that confident grin.

To be continued…

~ A Warrior. Yes!

“There comes a time in man’s search for meaning when one realizes that there are no answers. And when you come to that horrible, unavoidable realization, you accept it or you kill yourself. Or you simply stop searching. I have lived a blessed life. And yet every night, when I climb into bed, turn off the lights, and stare in to the dark, I wonder…Is this all there is?” ~ John Hurt to Natalie Portman (Jackie, 2016)

~