the rain falls down and i close my eyes enraptured
warm bright rays are pleasant but i take what i can

not as if i can't remember yesterday's torturing release
the clouds my worst enemy intently forcing the ****

life would be an intriguing alternative to this mess
of stringy wet hair half-frozen to itself and my face

i have a minature tent to make camp upon my head
if i open it the tent will become a sail and steal me

the rain is beating, warm, friendly, almost-kind
assuring me it would melt the ice if it dared return

we exchange bracelets, initialed hearts engraved
but crashing thunder interrupts, no blessing gives

i look up and the dark is ripped, a slender white string
my new friend abandons me in terror to the frost

numbly i just -- stay -- i can no longer care
i am yesterday, and the sky is spilling sleet

i have a garden of yesterdays
with things pushing through the dirt to bloom
and in my house of tomorrows
is a ***** and a *** and a wheelbarrow
i guess today is the place
where the past and future meet
and i gotta go back to the garden
to dig up dinner for today
maybe it is brussel sprouts
maybe it is sweet potatoes
or peaches, even
i forget some of what i planted
but i will find out soon
when i harvest yesterday

Three keys carefully tapped out
remove doubt and make it clear—
this a joke, but that a frown.
Tiny clown, bring drear or cheer.

For some, two keys shall suffice;
but to be nice, make a nose—
'tis just a dash more trouble,
but hath double the fair pose.

Of course, we can't forget one:
for fun, the twice-dotted Ü
(although too tall and too thin)
is a good grin, fresh and new.

on the shore the water rises
as it swirls--swirls to cover my feet
I dig my toes into the softened sand
and consider the properties of land--
reaching down--I hold the grains in my hand
wondering at this pliant thing
that holds me here against gravity's wishes--
and what falling through would--feel--like

too long I have walked
down this dusty road
mindful of the journey
mindful of the load

too often I have thought
that skills and respect
were useful things to keep
and knowledge or intellect

and I have tried to gather
all the wisdom I could find
striving to be smarter and keener
learning how to be sensitive and kind

many good and noble things
I have thought or at least tried
even struggling to learn
how to listen and confide

but these things alone are weak and empty
however good they might do
for my call is vastly higher
and my wisdom is only you

what matter is it if the world hates me
if I never measure equal to their standard
what matters of expectations or praise
or if all I am and all I think is slandered

be all my vision, be ruler of my heart
you are my wisdom, my word, whatever befall
be all my inheritance and all that I need
my treasure, my best thought, the ruler of all

the road is yet long and I am yet young
and if ever I forget that you're the only one
bring me back and hold me close
and remind me why this race I run

spinning here in silence forever
wondering at the vastness of the sea
and thinking that if only each minute
would bring back tomorrow to me
living in the present reluctantly
for the future will never be now
and yesterday will never change
wanting the splinter of the soon
to fuse life and meaning for today
reaching and grasping and hoping
catching the wind in my fist
I found it only shadow and murk
the light rests unbendingly on this hour
and only in this hour can I find the way

in the cold of night the winter waits
as the autumn leaves fall unheard
their crushed brown skin lines the path
while the icy wind reaches my face
the road stretches out for miles ahead
running to the horizon and beyond
and though there is neither twist nor turn
it travels over many strange and lonely hills
and slants into many darkened valleys
before it disappears in its mysterious end
I see the finish in its blaze of brightness
an image of something clear but yet unseen
and when I look at the road that lies between
it looks cold and dark and a little empty
and everything out of my so limited grasp
is shrouded in the deeply swirling fog ahead
and all I have is the light shining before me
the promise that darkness will never fall
and the hope that this path is not all forever
for a moment I ponder the truth behind this journey
and see what an adventure it could be
how much more can a blind man learn of reality
than we whose eyes are clouded by what we see
and stepping forward I take the dare in silence
as the world behind me fades to a dull grey
and the light so bright grows brighter still
as with every step it grows nearer to me