Nightcrawler's Elegy
Dark is the night
And the world stumbles ever in darkness.
Humans drink of misery as a cat laps milk.
They feed on cruelty and,
While longing for unity, push away
That which is puzzling or different.
I live in the shadows,
For it is the only place the world will assign to me.
Although I hide in the murky places,
My soul turns like a flower to the Sun of justice,
Longing for the warmth of the One
Who created me to be so unique, so anomalous.
If all the world had tails, I would be normal;
If they only knew its usefulness, its sinewy serpentine beauty,
Perhaps they would not mock me so.
Perhaps not. But I would still be blue.
Why do they fear my burning-ember eyes?
Why do they recoil from the soft fur of my skin?
Swords and swiftness
Are second nature to me;
I do not desire to harm,
Yet at times it must be done
To save the defenseless.
My skills can be used
To entertain or to rescue.
I flash from place to place,
Try to heal hearts and salve wounds.
I use laughter as my shield and my fuel;
It keeps the monsters of fear and hatred at bay –
Sometimes –
And is a fundamental part of my nature.
I bind myself to the other wounded,
The ones beleaguered by situations thrust upon them,
Who had no choice in the genetic portion of their destinies.
We bond together to face that which would disarm us,
To offer our service to a world which thrusts us aside
For our differences,
Although our distinctiveness is what can save or protect them.
I am scorned as was He Who bled for me;
I am pure as Adam (after the Fall)
Yearning to belong, to give, to receive,
Forever outcast, forever apart, forever trying to find acceptance.
I am agile, yes,
And I can run from the pain of misunderstanding,
But only for so long.
Then I must find refuge.
In the arms of a lover?
In the ale and tall tales of mein Freund?
In the womb of mother Church?
Wherever I seek, there is disappointment,
But still the search carries me like a starfish on the tide.
I will one day land on a safe shore
Even if it be not until eternity.
