i sing a song of my soul so that all can see
to some degree
my heart of hearts and my world that to me is free
my hands sweat
my body shivers
can it be from being alive... living in absolute ecstasy?

i need sustenance, i need poetry
my body needs food and ***
i need things like these
that give life and reason to wake up tomorrow
wake up tomorrow so i can spend time loving and writing
i need love, i need to be important
my mind needs to be recognized
my hope to be known, to be told i'm a writer
so that i can be sure of it,
be sure that i am what i say to myself that i am

how do I see myself?
self esteem?
is there a self to be esteemed?
am i made up of thought? feelings? perceptions?
what am i? what are you?
is this what was sought by philosophers?
lovers?
sisters? brothers?
i hope to find myself somewhere
under that rock
in the toe of my sock
behind the tree
i just hope the me i find is free

i hope that in the future i'm needed
i hope that i will be recognized for revolutionizing
for socializing for rectifying
i hope that i'm loved for my soul and for my poetry (which is my soul)
my greatest hope is for at least a little inner peace
for a quieting of the mind and tranquility of spirit
i have hope for the world because i see love everywhere
for finding love in myself it must be in everyone
for my soul is yours as yours is mine in this cosmic milkshake
shake O shake you cool cool cat
let the whole world hear your song
leave more than the impression in the couch
from where you sat

i prowl the twisting alleyways of imagination in search of heaven
i've heard that it's down here among the trees and *****
cigarette **** sidewalks
have you found it?
if you had would you have told me?
i love you don't you love me?
i've found heaven in you but you've found it
where i'd never think to look
not in a book or the bodhi tree we shook
but in the love of another
where i'd never think to look

you there! alone! aren't we all lonely wanderers!
i see you there
i see the love where you'd never think to check
come here, i beckon to you
find the love in me so ****** red
i lie alone in bed
thinking of you, dear
are things ever better left unsaid?

come with me! on the road and back again
travel with me! never let me be!
of all loves it's you i chose
come quickly now
for i'll be leaving soon
i must only wait till the road opens
and the flowers finally bloom
for love is quick
and there is so much world to see

peace! love! take me to where i can find these things
for they are all i think about in the infinite universe of my mind
like the infinite love in my heart
or the finite love of your lips

love is lonely
hate is holy
find me god! save me!
what is this life that lifts me up only to drown me
in thoughts of loss and endings
in words that spew from my mind i drown myself

poetry! music!
things so important to me
i find poetry in everything
and music straight from my dreams
spine tingling, legs shaking, head rocking,
a world orchestrated by eternity

the cigarette between my fingers burns at the tip!
how it burns burns burns
like my world burns
my life that's gone up in smoke!
will i end up rich and famous?
or happy and broke?

a lifetime of poetry ahead
words to be written
love to be made
loves to be lost
and paths to be crossed
i must get out of bed

the future scares me and
the money in the world is quite a sum
it's just too bad i want to be a ***

years from now when my song is sung
when the words have crumbled to dust
and my mind has begun to rust
will you love me then?
will i have proven my worth?
will i be happy with my life, my work?

can i rest in peace and return to the earth?