Remember when we were kids and you’d turn the corner when it was cold and you’d feel better knowing you’d be in your house soon? Under your blankets and near the fire? Your mother’s food being prepared? The smell of just being safe?

yes I remember

That’s how you make me feel...

You’re the reason why
At the beginning of
Revolutions
They drag the poets
Into the streets
&
Have them shot

Poets
With their ideals
Compassion
Courage
Inflicting the masses

They always shoot the
Poets
Not the pastors
Teachers
Laborers
Politicians
Press

Poets give hope
Even when they
Themselves
Have none...

I admire the ones who
Walk away
The ones who’ve disappeared
From view
Who decided my words
My actions
Were just too much
For them

Maybe...
I shared too little

One...
Wanted forever
Like they all do
One...
Cried herself to sleep
In my arms
Many a night
I really thought she’d stay
She’s been gone for decades
I wonder if she found
Another tree to hold onto
One...
Emails me once a year
On my birthday
That’s it
The only day

Words...Actions...Mapping Out
Constellations
They’re never enough
To keep them from disappearing

I admire that

Because my memory is so good
I can remember ages 3-4
Lying on my back in the grass
Listening to the crickets
The ants doing their thing
The clouds and the moving
Watercolor paintings
Move across the sky

Welcome to Kindergarten
Go here...go there
Sit here...take this test
Make good grades
How was school today?
You need to do better if you
Want to get a good job
Make a good living
Schoolings over
Work begins
Get certified
Train
Come in early
Go home late
4am mornings
7pm get homes
2 weeks of vacation a year
Fill this out
Put this in the mail
Save for your retirement
Eat better for a longer life
Take a glimpse of that cloud
Rolling by
Rememberclouds?

‘You’re late...this Better never happen again or you’ll be looking for another job.’

Years pass much like those clouds

Retirement

‘What are you going to do with the rest of your life?’

‘I’m ready to die...I’m ready to be among the clouds.’

It’s when you no longer care or get excited about the future that you begin to look old...