I was conceived somewhere in that unknown land that lies
between fate and destiny, and there, someone much higher and stronger than I,
deemed it necessary to cast me upon the reefs of life and backwash me into an
eternity of love, hate, joy and sorrow.
He chose me to wander in the Islands beneath the
Southern Cross and span the greatest of continents numerous times. Many times he
chose me to lie in drunken stupor upon skid-rows and to rave deliriously while
bound to a hospital bed. Once he placed me in the company of the giants of the
construction world only to return me to the trowel and level. He saw fit at
times to decorate me with military honors but yet he also confined me within his
jails.
Then one day, as I lay fallen, Jekyled by my own selfish
lust and greed, he reached down and helped me to stand erect again.
He taught me once more of love for the young and respect
for the aged, and he tutored me at the open gates of hell the meaning of right
and wrong. He caused my eyes to witness hideous death and reflect upon blessed
birth. The screams of death and the hymns of peace he re-echoed within my ears.
Most of all he taught me to be humble. Humble enough to
learn his teachings and to carry his wisdoms and truths, to the open minds of
the many who were less fortunate that I and had never risen from the depths of
moral and physical decay, to cast aside a carcass of self-pity and behold the
wonders and fantasies of the world about me.
Because of all this, I wish to reach into my heart and
take form my memory shelf, the bitter and the sweet and blend them with the cold
loneliness of a foggy night; the triumphs of the victors; the scorn of the
defeated. I want to pass on to those who have yet to com, my trials and errors
and the wisdoms I have gained in order that I may now walk with my head erect
and not bowed in shame.
Gene Duffy