Sixteen Just Arrived
But Soon Will Away
Where Tomorrows
Become Yesterday

A Grown Man, Now
Who Makes His Dad Proud
Sentiment, I’ve Too Seldom
Stated Aloud

But You Made Me Better
Right From The Start
The First Born Bloom
In This Father’s Heart

Up Ahead, All Those Dreams
Await Being Found
And If Bravely Sought
Good Fortune Will Abound

These Achievements, Unlock
But Don’t Grade By The Letter
True Success Is The Degree
That You Make The World Better

If The Journey Is Fraught
Stay Vigilant, Tread Right
Where Other Sparks Falter
You Must Be The Light

Lay Siege To Those Demons
Without And Within
However Dark Is The Night
Be Assured… Light Will Win

Crushed velvet
Your skin, soft
Fingertips dance
Softly
Gleefully
With sudden liberty
To explore and retrace
Each subtle nuance
Each supple curve
The sun, ever-curious
Peaks through the window
Engulfing and invading
Our crumpled fortress of sheets and pillows
With a warm, blissful cascade of
Impossible oranges and reds
Celebration for the new day, together
Your lips brush against mine
Tenderly
Eagerly
Your heartbeat quickens
As I feel you press against me
The world melts away
Nothing else matters
Just this
Just you
And when your breath catches
There is no reason left to hide

What is it that keeps you going?
What inspires you not to quit?
What drives you to be better?
What gives you that warrior grit?

The faces are foreign
As with rubber masks
Caricatures, grotesque
Not wholely unknown
But seemingly apart
Blank, vacant, stares
Each visage bringing
Only further numbness
Their mouths, agape
Their eyes, hollow
Their hands, pale and cold
Ever reaching
Ever grasping
Ever clawing
Ever filled, but never satiated
Lost souls
Infected by desperation and woe
Wreaking of wretchedness and misery
I am, at once, repulsed
Yet…
Compelled to assist
Could I ease their suffering?
As such, a boon is offered
And then… accepted
Met not with gratefulness
But rather, the unfortunate and horrific subtext
Of ravenous and unsettling eagerness
Yet, compassion undeterred
By glorious purpose or barbaric sincerity
As doubts start to fester
When will it be enough?
Even as needs are met
Spiders of fingers, grasp
Refusing withdrawal
Angering as they’re lingering
Bitter pills, this shame
Choked down painfully, willfully
Leaving jagged scars of contempt, resentment
And as such,
In nightmarish turn
What began as giving
Goes over to taking,
Each hand filled
Each service rendered
Met only with further ask
More
Their wordless cry
More and more
Driven by callous, insatiable greed
Building to full and frenetic crescendo
Cold-eyed sharks, starting to frenzy
Scenting blood in the water
Winter dances down my spine
Sobering, the realization comes
This can only end one way
There will be no victory here
There’s no hope that will be given
There’s no hope that can be found
Just a bottomless cauldron
Of wanton, endless, need
Insight, admittedly, arriven
Perhaps a moment too late
For they begin to pull
Down
That they may climb
Rats on a sinking ship
Amorphic and anonymous
Twisting and seething
A garish collective of chaos
Furthering its own fury
Gasping and grasping
The shock, overcome
I reach out for stable footing
An action, I determine doomed immediately
Impotent in the face of such unpliable fanaticism
Fatefully swallowed by it’s tremendous wake
Revealing only the unsettling ease,
With which empathy abandons the hearts of men
Impulse conquers thought
Claws tear flesh
Teeth render bone
A taste of tears and blood
That I know to be my own
And suddenly, they’ve gone
I’m falling all alone
Down and down
Into a stark nothingness
Hope lingers, flickers and fades
Marshalling what purpose remains
I reach out for help
For salvation
For forgiveness
But there’s no answer
No one is coming
I gaze out into the silence
But the only thing left to see
Is the darkness ahead
And above
And behind

Endure the tears

But remember the smiles

For you are the only you

That ever is or ever was

And I’m so glad you’re here

When the days begin to ring hollow

And you feel you’re all alone

Tis likely there is someone near

Who’s feeling the same way

And though that offers cold comfort

Hopefully we can share a wry smile

At the irony

We struggle and we grind

Till we grind ourselves to dust

Then a new challenger emerges

To continue the story

Because it must

It must

Anonymous

My love, I am no longer there
If someday you choose to look
Though my heart would linger still
And all my days on Earth forsook
But stubbornness dilutes goodwill
And limits further twists of fate
Somewhere we’re together still
But in this realm, I cannot wait…
Although our future prospects dim
As ‘we’ and ‘us’ become the past
The stars have shared our lover’s kiss
Our souls they bind until the last

As breath fails and body withers

As I transition to the ever after

Will I forget how much I love you?

Will I forget the laughter we’ve shared?

Those crucial moments that have forged our indelible bond?

In life, we’re exposed to many systems of belief and a sea of empty promises

Pedantic dogma to which people of reason cannot blindly subscribe or entertain

Tis hubris and folly to pretend to understand what lies across that final threshold

Although, admittedly, it is ever our responsibility to grasp at those straws

Humankind is just not that wise yet

To that end, although it offers no reassurance

I embrace the not knowing

All that is sure and assured is that I am here, in this moment, right now

Recognizing that precious and precarious truth

I find the courage to be my true self

I will seize this opportunity to confide that

I love you, and more

And will, for as long as I am able

The day will come when this fragile body fails and my soul departs

But even then, I will carry you with me

If not in memory, in the undeniable, transformative impact you’ve had on my being

There is no me without you

Or, rather, I would not be who I am without you

I will miss you, my love

Even if and when I lack the capacity to do so

Our bond has been etched upon my being, my soul

And your presence has enriched my life in countless ways

For that, I will be forever grateful

Even in the lack of that capacity

One truth we can understand is that energy cannot be created or destroyed

But it does change forms

Beyond this primitive collection of cells that exist with shared purpose

We are beings of light and energy

A soul, a spirit, a consciousness… undefinable

That must somehow transcend and persevere

As temporal forms fail, our essence must go out

To find and join that mysterious beyond

Which leads me to wonder…

What is that transition like?

Perhaps it’s a moment of pure bliss

Absolute understanding and recognition and appreciation

Of purpose fulfilled

Or will we instead find regret…

Perhaps we will focus on what is lost or incomplete

Or maybe, we will feel a sense of atonement and acceptance…

For the struggle and perseverance of a life, endured

Or maybe it’s more simple

An ending of sorts

Absolute closure

The end of caring, the end of fear, the end of doubt

That brings a momentary gift of understanding, and relief

Whatever that moment affords us, whenever it finds me

It will not change or remove the connection between you and I

As I leave this world, if indeed I leave first

Be assured that I leave it better for having known you

Tears may come, but don’t waste those on regret

For what may have been said or done differently

Be assured, the image I carry of you is so perfectly formed

So perfectly loved…

That I would have it no other way

You will always be my son, my daughter, my lover, my parent or my beloved sister

Nothing that has happened or will happen

Can detract from or diminish what you have meant to me

The living shall bear the burden of remembrance

Wisdom and perspective… those belong only to those who’ve moved on

I hope you find some solace in knowing that…

Wherever I am

I finally understand

And I have found peace

As you and others gather to say goodbye

Please know that I love and appreciate each of you

And the moments we shared were not in vain

Though you may reap the pain of loss

Find a way to sow those bittersweet fields of gratefulness

For the opportunity to have shared time

To have shared love

If you find yourself mired in the unspoken communion of lament

Please be assured that you are not alone

For even as we must all someday depart

Our connection remains, and there are many new ones that have yet to take form

You can honor me by carrying the best parts of us forward

Let our love for each other continue to be a light in this world

A glimmer of hope that allows you to more deeply treasure each relationship, moving forward

Perhaps you will be more present, and notice and appreciate those poignant moments

And occasionally, perhaps… you will pause

To appreciate the moments we shared, as they come

Perhaps you’ll think of me, and smile

Don’t let the memories of our time together pull you out to sea

But rather, let them crash over you like waves to the shore

And though we may not be able to laugh together again

Be assured that our souls remain entwined

Never to be unbound

Because of you, my heart is full

And wherever I am

Even if I am alone in the cold dark

I carry you with me

And I will fill the void with our love