Here & Now

To focus my mind on this now -

Oh, if I were made that way

When there's so much else to dwell on

So many other things to say

Too many to pin down now

In a time of new turmoil and old

Yet also this new certainty 

The thoughts all bend and fold

But try to think on this now

Where the changing ages meet 

The feeling of spilled time  

The sound of shifting feet 

We’re starting a new chapter here

Stepping into twenty-four 

Building something different 

Something I’ve never done before

It’s so hard to focus on right here

With such enticing things to plan

And all the latest drama 

Causing my mind to pan 

But try to value right here

This one day amidst three hundred sixty-five

The feeling of the sun

And the sound of being alive

Gold

To choose, this choice, once chosen just to prove

That this time, of all times, this time we will move

Outside of what is comfortable, what's expected, done with ease

Not pausing to consider who it might not please

Yes, this time with conviction, with surety, with pain

We will not, must not, do not let your resolve wane 

For out of boiling chaos, out of rage, out of heat

Maybe we can find where despair and hope meet

And we can choose the latter, choose to change, choose to grow

Instead of repeating these cycles, these patterns, these devils that we know

To take a step forward, step away, step between

All the things never said and all the things we’ve seen 

Yes, this time with clarity, with honesty, with pain

With the hope of the seasons and the force of a driving rain

For out of stifling ice, out of stagnation, out of cold

We'll start a raging fire and bathe in endless gold

Cascading Decades

Look how far we’ve come now

Turn about and view our tracks

How they twist and turn

Strive and relax

I’ll strive once more now

To find the words to convey 

The point of composing   

This winding array 

Seasoned by time

I might relax instead

Nothing left to prove

To the voices in my head

Listen to the soft hush

Like footprints in the snow

They compress and refill 

Shrink and grow

I’ll compress myself into

These rambling lines

Squeeze a word til a 

New meaning shines 

I’ll refill with memories 

Old thoughts to create new

Expand lost feelings

All in an effort to -

Feel my soul shifting

And let the words cascade

I'll wrap them around me

As we close out my first decade

The Centuries Beat In Vain

And when the days whirl around you

Grasp a moment, hold it tight

Anchor for a second

I’ll try to help it last the night

Not to be existential

Still carried in the back of my mind

Twirling evermore, or until the stars are aligned 

Once more, help me find the reason

New years spilling so fast

Eternity insuring - nothing at all will last

Perhaps we’ll find a purpose 

Echoing through the centuries 

Reaching through time

Fragmented in the breeze 

Either found or created

Create this moment with me

To return to always in memory

Memories may become tainted 

Old feelings tend to wane 

Maybe we can make them 

Echo evermore, once more again

Nary a doubt that - against one perfect moment

The centuries beat in vain

One Moment More

Tangled thoughts and

Harrowed hearts all

Disperse in the end

Close your eyes

Leave them behind

This is where we mend

With time to spare

Light catching your hair

I’ll just watch you shine

With no words to bare 

For none compare 

To one so divine 

To hold you here

One moment more

Is all I ask of life

To die would be

A meaningless thing

My heart would yet run rife

With lack of sleep

Small price to reap

Your fingers laced in mine

With dreams so deep

Love, be mine to keep

My eternal Valentine