Spring's Early Light

Eric Campos

Sacred meadow, gold and green,

Stretching far as the eye can see.

You tempt me cross, and yet that cannot be,

My mortal steps would surely trample thee.

And so I just stand,

I watch,

I soak you in from afar.

I gain joy in my heart,

It is a beautiful sight,

And yet, I know,

With winter it shall depart.

And that is what makes it a vision greater.

Rising

Rising

Eric Campos

I’m falling

The world is spinning,

My spirit is crashing,

I’m crumbling to the ground.

               

I was walking the road,

Far from home,

I was walking alone,

And the burdens brought me down,

Stone in the water.

Pain brought me to my knees,

I was an outcast, fallen.

The road had become like raging seas,

And I was lost.

Pummeling waves, tempest blows,

Stinging rain lashes my back,

As I lay broken on life’s trail,

Heavy sadness, betrayal, they engulf my sight.

The light of hope begins to black,

I cannot do it. I am defeated.

And then…

A hand.

It grasped my shoulder and brought me to my feet,

And the pain began to quell,

I no longer fell.

The light of hope returned in my sight,

I could continue the road, the fight,

I wasn’t alone,

I had a friend at my side.

There were trials still,

And pain ahead,

Many, many, more.

But as before, I had presences to keep me strong,

To give me faith.

I’m rising.

For Nick, and Mom, and all my family and friends who have stood by me, and given me the inspiration to rise to my feet every time. May the Author Of All Things, guide and protect you all.

Paths

Paths

Eric Campos

I am a wanderer of the paths before me,

A humble traveler.

In the stillness of ponder, of woe, of agitation, it comes:

 The urge to venture out, to meander the paths before me.

                                             

The route is never known. The turns, the crossroads, are all possibilities.

To go left or right, forward or backward, the road simply tells me.

It does not shout, nor command me this way or that. It only offers me the path, many paths,

Towards an unknown destination. To traverse the land before me.

The sensations, so many as I tread.

To walk abroad, to dare venture into the world,

To leave behind the dread, the fear, the sorrow, let them stare as I move in spite of them,

Thus I am free, the world keeps moving. I am at peace.

I do not fear the open road,

Nor the questions of left or right,

I seek the insight in myself,

And the path to cross comes into sight.

Some paths may weave, and others diverge another way,

And I the traveler simply turn and climb and sway with the road before me,

For the true purpose lies not only at the end of the road, but the path itself,

The journey. The story to tell of the day.

I am a humble traveler,

Wandering far and wide.

The road is ever my friend, the path its gift to me,

The path of possibility, of opportunity,  

The path that is free to walk, and think, and dream.

Ascent of Man

Ascent of Man

Eric Campos


The boy entered the woods with a cautious stride,
for he was alone,
and the forest veil held many dangers,
many trials.

A Norse boy, his hair fell long and fair,
blue sapphire eyes staring forth,
as he moved into the wilderness,
far out of the hands of Man.

He had only a bow and a few arrows, a knife,
and clothes to shield him from the northern wind,
a hunter alone.

The wolf’s bale in the midnight,
the flowing creek,
the ancient trees,
the running deer,
the falling snow,
these were his companions and he learned in their presence.

He listened and watched, in the silent way.
He learned the language of all before him, and lived,
he thrived under the trees’ shadows.

From the wolf, he learned stealth and the art of the hunt,
learned to kill for the nourishment of his own.
Survival.

In the flowing creek, and the waters, the boy learned patience
as he plied a fisherman’s rod for food. It taught him direction,
and also the gratitude for quenched thirst.

The ancient trees and plants taught him beauty, and gifted him with shade,
they gave him sweet foods to eat, and taught him those bitter.
They taught him growth, and bounty.

The deer and other prey taught him humility,
for it was them he killed and lived from.
The deer taught him life and death;
everything lives,
everything dies.

The Northern snows, and raging tempests, and heat,
they taught him the way of the seasons of the Earth.
They taught him to build shelter,
and the pride of the work of his own hands.

He learned many other things,
He learned all the languages of the world around him.
He learned beauty and struggle,
and the Norse boy grew a Man.

One day the Man left the hall of trees,
settled away from the woods,
and made his own home.
He forgot all that he had learned.
He no longer needed them.

Life's Seasons

Life’s SeasonsEric Campos

For a time I was in Paradise,
Then brought down to Earth,
Sank into Purgatory,
Then dropped into Hell,
And straight to the pit of Tartarus.