I've been wanting to post this poem for a long time. It's probably one of my best - it's certainly one of my favorites. :) The title is a link to it's original place at my poetrybyjoy.weebly.com site. There you can see the picture that inspired it. You'll have to click "read more" to see the whole poem.
Two Doors
One door is black,
Perched like a crow,
On it's elegant door frame.
The other is brown,
Dull like a sparrow,
Weary and worn.
Into the black one,
Goes a fine woman
Dressed in red silk.
Her skin is pale,
Eyes tinted in blue,
Lips bold, shining red.
Two Doors
One door is black,
Perched like a crow,
On it's elegant door frame.
The other is brown,
Dull like a sparrow,
Weary and worn.
Into the black one,
Goes a fine woman
Dressed in red silk.
Her skin is pale,
Eyes tinted in blue,
Lips bold, shining red.
The brown door opens.
Wizened features protrude,
Hoping, waiting.
Beyond the old man
I see row upon row
Of books in their shelves.
Crystal blue eyes,
Cut through the twilight,
Then disappear.
An elegant young man,
In boots tall and courtly
Stops at the doors.
His upper lip curls
And his thick eyebrows lift
At the calm, splintered door.
Eyes flick away as
One sleek glove clenches,
And raps the black door.
~
Twilight deepens into dusk,
Night takes on a chilly air –
A shuffling step is heard.
Rags whisper up the steps,
Breath trembles at the doors,
A long silence... then knock, knock.
The brown door flies open,
The thin face within
Crinkles in delight.
Shriveled arms and warbled voice
Lift in joy
As the stranger steps inside.
Two doors.
So close together,
Yet so far apart.
For in one sleeps
A prostitute,
Warmed by her prey.
Just beyond the other,
Faith is returning,
As two old men pray.
Behind these two doors,
Two things are happening,
Two lives are changed.
As the sun's wakes the land,
The young man emerges;
Weary and desperate.
His eye siezes the brown door,
Unstately, umimposing.
Nothing like him.
He pushes it open to find
Row upon row
Of old dusty books.
He opens one up and reads,
"Thou shalt not have
Any gods before Me."
He sets it back down,
And opens another.
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
He's startled by shuffling.
An old man looks up at him
Over the counter.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asks.
"Yes, may I ask you:
Who are these speaking of?"
The man takes the book from
The gentleman's hands.
"It is Jesus."
A gust of wind
Blows the creaky door shut,
And I am left alone.
The black door opens and
Temptation steps out,
Off to bag her next catch.
She does not notice me,
A small girl,
Sitting on the cracked pavement.
I've been sitting here,
Since yesterday,
Staring at the two doors.
Two worlds, how vast
A distance between
The brown and the black.
I look at the sky,
Where the sun makes it's way
From the East to the West,
And there is my God.
"Good finally won,
eh, little one?"
His smile is so like laughter,
And his eyes so like crystals,
I can't help but smile back.
"God, why are there
Two doors and not one?
Why is there a choice?"
"Because, little angel,
My children can't love,
If they cannot choose hate.
"They can't truly love Me
Until they have chosen
Me over another.
"A time will come someday,
When I will remove
The black door from it's hinges.
"The choice will be made
Forever and always
When my son returns...."
~
Just as bright morning
Lifts over the buildings
The young man slips out.
His smile suffuses
The alley with sunshine.
I'm so excited I close my eyes and shiver.
As the man with the smile
And the gentleman's cloak
Turns down the road,
I stand up at last,
For I am to follow;
I am his guardian angel.
I take one last look
At the black and brown doors,
So close, yet so far.
The crow and the sparrow,
Just for the moment,
Co-existing.
Wizened features protrude,
Hoping, waiting.
Beyond the old man
I see row upon row
Of books in their shelves.
Crystal blue eyes,
Cut through the twilight,
Then disappear.
An elegant young man,
In boots tall and courtly
Stops at the doors.
His upper lip curls
And his thick eyebrows lift
At the calm, splintered door.
Eyes flick away as
One sleek glove clenches,
And raps the black door.
~
Twilight deepens into dusk,
Night takes on a chilly air –
A shuffling step is heard.
Rags whisper up the steps,
Breath trembles at the doors,
A long silence... then knock, knock.
The brown door flies open,
The thin face within
Crinkles in delight.
Shriveled arms and warbled voice
Lift in joy
As the stranger steps inside.
Two doors.
So close together,
Yet so far apart.
For in one sleeps
A prostitute,
Warmed by her prey.
Just beyond the other,
Faith is returning,
As two old men pray.
Behind these two doors,
Two things are happening,
Two lives are changed.
As the sun's wakes the land,
The young man emerges;
Weary and desperate.
His eye siezes the brown door,
Unstately, umimposing.
Nothing like him.
He pushes it open to find
Row upon row
Of old dusty books.
He opens one up and reads,
"Thou shalt not have
Any gods before Me."
He sets it back down,
And opens another.
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
He's startled by shuffling.
An old man looks up at him
Over the counter.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asks.
"Yes, may I ask you:
Who are these speaking of?"
The man takes the book from
The gentleman's hands.
"It is Jesus."
A gust of wind
Blows the creaky door shut,
And I am left alone.
The black door opens and
Temptation steps out,
Off to bag her next catch.
She does not notice me,
A small girl,
Sitting on the cracked pavement.
I've been sitting here,
Since yesterday,
Staring at the two doors.
Two worlds, how vast
A distance between
The brown and the black.
I look at the sky,
Where the sun makes it's way
From the East to the West,
And there is my God.
"Good finally won,
eh, little one?"
His smile is so like laughter,
And his eyes so like crystals,
I can't help but smile back.
"God, why are there
Two doors and not one?
Why is there a choice?"
"Because, little angel,
My children can't love,
If they cannot choose hate.
"They can't truly love Me
Until they have chosen
Me over another.
"A time will come someday,
When I will remove
The black door from it's hinges.
"The choice will be made
Forever and always
When my son returns...."
~
Just as bright morning
Lifts over the buildings
The young man slips out.
His smile suffuses
The alley with sunshine.
I'm so excited I close my eyes and shiver.
As the man with the smile
And the gentleman's cloak
Turns down the road,
I stand up at last,
For I am to follow;
I am his guardian angel.
I take one last look
At the black and brown doors,
So close, yet so far.
The crow and the sparrow,
Just for the moment,
Co-existing.