They say that age is just a number
And although mine is rather high
If I had a chance to pick another
I think I'd stick with mine

It took me years to get here
Through all the ups and downs, the aches and pains
One thing that has been made clear
I wouldn't change a single thing

Because with age comes the wisdom
To learn from our mistakes
And believe me I've made plenty
Of mistakes along the way

Although I've made some winning
Decisions to back them up
I'd have to say this life and age
Is one I truly love

So if I had the chance
To do it all again
I believe I'd take the stance
Of No Way, No How, No When

For when it comes to life
The good far out weighs the bad
So I think that I'll just stick with
The one and age that I now have

Believe in yourself so much that even when there's no one to back you up,you'll still stand firm,
Do you know of the sweet pleasure of doing something people say you can't do?
Wow its soooooo pleasurable!!!,I'm lacking better terms here,
But believe me,it is.

michael was a poet
from the moment he arrived
taking all that he was given
and putting it to rhyme

holding to the certainty
on the day that he was born
michael would take it all in hand
and live it out in poem

he would fill his days with laughter
letting sadness have the night
as it came in bits and pieces
in the poetry he would write

there were those that never understood
what brought his thoughts to mind
beyond the space he was living in
on another plain in time

dipping often in the rhythm
as his tide would ebb and flow
michael was a poet
and that's all he's ever known

There're endless ways to write
give vent to a joy or to pain
heavy stuff or childly light
sunshine or broken sky's rain.

It depends on the day the mood
good times or bad on the way
shapes the words your attitude
color them the way you want to say.

Endless are the ways to fill the page
rhythm and structure and rhyme
clear as daylight or a maze
depends how you're treated by the time.

You choose from the collage endless
words that may sadden entertain
when broken you may choose to show a face
that by lighting smiles lessens your pain.

Sometimes my heart aches, thinking about those that I got close to.
But they went away, without me reaching out to them about God.
I fail to minster to them , and now I feel ashamed that I fail them.
When I think about all those people whom made a difference in my life.
But I fail to make a difference in their lives while they were here.
So many people that needed Jesus but I fail back then to minster.
So now here I am missing being able to have been their true friend.
For now I try to Love with Agape Love, but I fail back then to.
I just am feeling so blue because I miss being able to minster to them.
The way that I should had, so tonight I pray one more time for others.

Through trials, tribulation and
Never ending doubt and hesitation
There is a voice of determination,
Whispering in your ear, keep going
And you did

Fighting against all odds
Knowing death may come
But there is a bit of happiness
Knowing that they were doing the right thing
They sacrificed, but made it

I brushed off the nervousness
And put on a strong expression
Hope lost in my eyes,
But not in my soul
And I got up.

Dear October,
Bathing me in a full moon
Supersized and the colour of
McDonald's cheese.

Bright through the thick curtains
Of my bedroom, where I rest in
Sober solitude.
A dim red, even through heavy

Eyelids.
Dear October, breathe your faintly
Frosted scents through my open
Window, leave my stellar

Night light on.
I need no fingertips caressing my
Face goodnight.
I have friends like little planets.

I  live on the mountain
Below the silver mist
In the valley, full of magic
Where the sun has rarely kissed

I am called a smudger
I live on what's left behind
I have been here near forever
I'm the last one of my kind

Below the mountain major
Lives a dragon, fierce and bold
Sleeping now, and dreaming
Of it's hoard of stolen gold

Eleventy years plus twenty
I have been here on this earth
Cleaning up the dragons droppings
It's how I justify my worth

The dragon's ruled this mountain
For a thousand thousand years
The silver river that flows through it
Is full of snow melt and of tears

Once a generation
Someone comes from down below
Gets the villagers all riled
Says "The dragon has to go"

They go and fight the dragon
Try to take his hoard of gold
And that is why, it's me the smudger
Who knows how the story must be told

The fighter leaves the village
Full of gusto and incensed
Saying "justice for the village"
or close to that....condensed

The dragon then awakens
Flys around and burns the town
Leaving nothing left but ashes
everything gone or burned down

Now, I, your local smudger
Cleans up the dead and done
It's a profitable existence
Since I am the only one

The dragon knows there's nothing
Much more of value to behold
The villagers were poor folk
Owning neither jewels or gold

I've cleaned up more destruction
Caused by villagers who go
On up to face the dragon
And get killed with just one blow

Now, I make candles with their bodies
I use their skin and body fat
I weave the hair not melted
And I make a nice new front hall mat

The bones I grind and scatter
On the mountain in the trees
It helps the ferns all grow strong
And keeps the trees free from disease

What little money I find
I leave half by the dragons den
Over time I have left there
Money from five thousand men

I've swords I sell at auction
When I travel, but that's rare
There is really nothing for me
That's not near the dragons lair

It's a relationship existing
On destruction and of greed
The dragon burns the village
And I get the things I need

They rebuild and they recover
And a generation may pass by
When once again some young, strong fighter
Wakes the dragon, makes him fly

I guess we need each other
That's the way it's always been
I'm the smudger on the mountain
I'm the one who's never seen