Damocles And Other Leashes Poem by jim hogg

where was I going? I don't know
I never even thought to ask
so many histories in play
and possibilities undone
it seems as if I didn't care
or wasn't ever really there
amongst those creatures blazing trails
their gods and goals all glorious
I swallowed some, but not enough
at times it seems the only dream
that truly drove me through those years
was breaking free of fear and shame

but there we all were, rivered in

once particles commingling wild
we held formation for a while
as row on row we stepped in time
and fled to little clots at night
defences broken by fatigue
while overhead, insistent blue
the portacabins sauna hot
the lecturers all drenched in sweat
until September proved itself
and all of us had spoken up
some from the heart, some from the page
those swaggerings of innocence
still cinematic in my head
before the scattering to come
and constant wearing of ideals

the rocks of Damocles held fast
but we at last were off the leash