Eden in the East

22 Feb 2020

To the east lies a shining promise

A promise of good times and merriment

A promise of change and a new life

But still it rests far away, by distance and time

Months to go and miles to trek, I set out

Trusty wit and half faulty wisdom are my companions

The inexperienced confidence of youth

Bubbling up with every step, every mile

Vain unintentionally, naively open

Mistakes masked by youthful invincibility

Grim realizations not yet faced

Tired on arrival, reality has set in

The glimmering surface of promise unmasked

The bare, cynical bones of truth revealed

The bright, shining naivety replaced by dull jade

Still, the glimmer flickers, all is not forsaken

A chance to make good on a promise made

A/N: This one is a little more special to me than the rest. I’ve gone by East of Eden or EoE in some circles since 2017, after reading Steinbeck’s novel of the same name. This one kinda lays out how I felt in this time a little better than most, especially the being east of Eden part of it all, even though I was west of it at the time. This is the first poem I wrote that I really thought, ‘I want people to read what I write.’ The idea for the website started around this time, and I’m only now (for good or bad) starting it.