The insignificance of a human life:
How monumentally minuscule it is.
Yet to survive,
To breathe in another sunrise,
To keep the generations coming,
The individual's most logical choice
Is to value itself above everything.

The realization of the self's grand insignificance
Is counterintuitive to its survival,
Thus, sentient life is inexorably tied to delusion;
To bent truths,
And comfortable lies.

Confronting one's futility,
However,
Often leads to desolation.
So fold yourselves within, humans,
Find a soft spot within your minds
And plant there the seeds of your joy.
Do not squander the little time you have
With things beyond your comprehension
The infinite cosmos is not for you.

Care for those that you love,
Fill your lungs with wild air,
Embrace your domain,
And live without refrain.

Storm

Clouds arrive like villains in smiles,
Their threat proudly displayed upon their menacing faces.
The winds are rolling, freshly born.
Waves get restless.
They know a violent cascade is looming.
The impending chaos is tangible.
The cosmos hold their breath.
Time stands still.
Fear,
Both inciting it
And cowering in it,
Is dominant here.
Lightning flashes a glimpse of what's to come.
Thunder speaks the words we instinctively know.
Calm resonates the precipice of disaster.
A vibration tethered for too long,
Shakes a warning to run.
Hesitation.
It's too late.
The eye is focused.
I am the storm.
I am here.

Life is full of twists and turns

     Happiness / Sadness
          Anger / Joy  
      Passion / Indifference
           Love / Hate

Opposites at first glance,
     each necessary in their own time,
    each with a purpose.

Like the swing of a pendulum,
     each tick-tock is inevitable,
each turn in the road purposeful,
     showing us something
         we need to learn from.

If we do not learn,
     it passes us by,
          and it will pass us by again,
     and again,
          and again,
until we learn the lesson
     life intends us to learn,
          then it will move on.

Tick-tock, tick-tock,
     swing left, swing right,
higher, lower,
    until we reach equilibrium,
then tick-tock,
     tick-tock
           all over again.

Live, learn, love...
     Live, learn, love...
          LIVE, LEARN, LOVE!

Balance is the Key.
     And Love!
     And Life!

And to take each day as it arrives
     and make the most of each opportunity,
each smile, glower, crisis and peace in its stride,
     and at the end of the day
          to be able to say:
I have LIVED this day!

You are the streak of sunshine
   that breaks through the clouds on high
You are the ripple of laughter
   from happy childhood days gone by

   Without your caring smile
I would be a hollow shell
   with nothing left to give
 
You are the glimmer of moonlight
   serenading a lovers' embrace
You are the murmur of forgotten dreams
   ricocheting into outer space

   Without your unwavering support
I would be adrift
   in the ocean of life

You are the flicker of flames
   dancing on paintings on an ancient cave wall
You are the echo of drums
   beating to the rhythm of the heart inside us all
  
   Without your unselfish love
I would remain alien,
   heart beating, only just alive

At the end of it all
These walls will fall
And the naked truth
Of your misspent youth
Will stalk your night
And bring to light
The shadowed ways
Of your formative days
But shed your fears
And save your tears,
Your past will not define you.

course, black, dog hair
from an eleven year old lab mastiff mix
pokes through my salmon button down
reminding me of home
while I pretend to work another day –
sitting in my swivel chair contemplating string theory,
dark matter,
zero-point energy and magnets…
enjoying a slight breeze
thinking about what a mint julip tastes like
and if the temperature and humidity are right
for that sort of affair –
wrinkled slack leg shows the truth
I wore these pants yesterday
dusty Nike proving my enslavement
thank god the sole is pulling away from the faux leather
at least I am not a slave to the seasons –
three week old stubble gives my calloused hands
something to scratch and rub
granting me the look of thoughtfulness
and intense consideration…
I play this up so no one bothers me –

I want to be swallowed up
By shooting star's blazing tails
And the universe's
Infinitely expanding space
Black holes and black planets
White dwarfs that supernova
I want to be caught in the debris
Of the chemical dust and gas
Floating on the light
Of a thousand dying suns
We become giants
And we become supergiants
I will exist in the empty space
As air and grit and starlight
I will become dark matter
I will let the dark matter