A poem

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.