There is this mountain

And this song that echoes through the valleys below it

Bellowing heavy and hollow

So deep that when you stand at the base

It fills your chest the way a bass drum does

Rather than mimicking the awkward music-less thump of your heart

It is constant

It begs you to find its center

Numbs you the way beer does

Breaks you down to this one feeling

Of forever

The way humming eventually tickles your lips

And you just can’t stop

Don’t stop

Just enter

If you ever wake up and find that I am no longer here

Know that there is this mountain

With a trail leading to its center

And it is humming the song of forever

Know that my carbon footprint is shallow enough

That the dirt my body turns into

Will fill it exactly

Know that home was never in cages

Not in dirt walls

Or wood walls

Or concrete walls

Walls do not belong in such wide open spaces

So if you wake up tomorrow

And find that I am gone

Know that there is this song

That anyone can sing just by humming

Until your lips go numb

Know that song is me

I never wanted anyone to love me

And I never wanted any more that what I already have

This whole time we’ve had it all wrong

And we never realized it

Keep the answers locked up like secrets

That we are too guilty to share

If the only thing my epitaph ever says is

“He was a good man”

I would have lived perfectly

So

If you wake up tomorrow

And I am gone

Remember the mountain

And its song

Remember it may be the hardest place for anyone to ever get to

But it feels more like home

Than any place ever will