THE
LETDOWN
I set out to do good-
The world was my oyster, as they say.
I was going to shine
A light.
Discovery
Is a harsh master. The light
Shined but I did not
Comprehend it. I thought it shone
For me. And all I would accomplish.
Setting goals for goal’s sake
Leads to a God-forsaken place and I fell.
I fell.
Darkness.
Still I fell. Angry
That my plans went to waste.
I almost cried
“What must I do to be saved?”
A
NEW START/CARPE DIEM
As I fell I saw
Their faces
The good brother.
The literature lover.
The runner, the joker.
The pride
Of his father, the quiet
Surprise.
The lively and the lovely ones,
The new ones and the old ones.
I prayed and
I prayed
And I heard God say
“I gave them to you.
Love them like I love you.”
And I am
Trying.
God
I’m trying.
FALL
BACK
This room is empty.
Except for one, who sits
And ponders empty
Chairs and tables, scraps on the tables
Papers left behind like fallen soldiers.
What a waste.
What a waste.
But no.
You can’t change
People; you can only
Love them.
That’s no waste.
All is vanity, says the Preacher,
But to eat, drink and enjoy your toil.
This toil
Is a daily grind of minds shrouded
In a mist of mule-like stubbornness,
Efficient
At blocking out anything
But their own way.
Friends,
Lend me your ears.
Am I not an honorable man?
Noble Brutus, noble Brutus, hear me.
I came to bury not to praise.
Here I am to speak what I do know.
THE SUNSHINE AND THE CLOUD
A cloud of charcoal blots the sky
And cries
In the earth. A song,
A song, my kingdom for a song
And a little sun.
April showers
Bring May flowers
But the garden is all rock.
FULL
CIRCLE
I gave you
My words and my time
And you took them.
You took them in your hands
Like fragile glass
And smashed it.
A thousand ideas and time
Tinkled on the ground
And I walked over the crunching
Broken pieces.
You were always careless.
logos
Words, words, words. The satirical rogue
Says here that fortune
Is a strumpet, but
I could count myself
The king of infinite space.
When I think back on the years
Rolling like a thunderbolt
That brought me here, it’s all just
Words, words, words.
In the beginning
Was the Word.
It was with and it was and ever shall be,
Words without end, Amen.
Nothing but intended
Meaning understood, accomplished and applied.
