time seemed to be completely irrelevant,
for it all looks the same in the dark.
as far as i was concerned, time had been left outside,
and with it, my issues, worries, and complications.
i breathed in, and i breathed out.
i could taste the boiling point of every molecule on my tongue.
i chased each bead of sweat across my skin,
shedding any thought that kept me from God.
i suppose i sat in the breath of the Great Spirit,
for i felt every cell of love grow within me,
felt evil melting from my pours,
and was reborn a new man.
i inhaled the earth as it should be,
peace swelled the pockets of my lunges,
and the smoke around me blurred the barriers of culture.
for the first round, i prayed for guidance.
He told me that i must feel my path,
for it was as dark as the room of which i sat.
for the second round, i prayed for those that loved me,
those that saw beyond the walls i built,
and into the face of God, who i could become, my potential.
i prayed for the opportunity to love back,
or to love a new, to mold their life as others had for me.
for the third round, i lost myself in gratitude.
though i was sitting, by knees bent under the weight of humility,
and tears mixed with sweat and streamed down my body.
for the fourth round, i focused on where i had been.
i remembered good times and bad times,
all leading me to where i was.
and for the fifth round, i sat in awe of the present,
counted my blessing and lost count somewhere around yesterday,
and i thought of the people of the land, the pure,
and reflected on how i might proceed.
for i am now different.
i shall never be the same.
i shall always carry the hills on my back,
the clouds just above my head,
and the sunset in my back pocket.
they gave themselves to me,
so i must give myself to others,
and with me, them.
i shall never be the same.
the world shall never be the same.