It is a fact
That it takes
About 80 milliseconds
For the brain to
Generate consciousness,

To take all the
Information flowing in and
Construct a model of reality
From moment to moment.
An 80-millisecond-old afterglow.

It is a fact,
That major league hitters
Cannot biologically
Keep their eyes on the ball.

That actually
Human eyes can't
Track at a ball whose
Angular position is
Changing so rapidly

And actually
You could close your
Eyes once it was
Halfway in the air
And you'd still
Catch it with the bat.

In fact,
Your brain is
Doing this right now.

As I speak,
It is taking a fraction of a moment
for my voice to reach your ear drums.

But your brain
It compensates for this by
Making you believe
That you are in this moment

For
This moment

So here is a poem
For those who
Can't help but
Live in the past:

It’s called “Climb”
__

They say
The most fertile land
Forms from tectonic shifts
So great
The earth erupts into chaos
To settle into mounds

Mountains
So majestic
That they were once
Mistaken for gods.

This
Is for the ones
Who are settling.

For the lamp light.
The nightstand
Of mistaken majesties
And snow-capped summits

For the time capsules
Of recipes and
One line poems
That I once forgot.

For the promise of prosperity
That we all had and have
But none of us got.

For the thought
That breath
Is only there
To say goodbye.

The last time
I hoped to die
I pried the crosses
From my trinity heart
Buried them one by one
In my holy stomach
Until even God
Didn’t have enough
Grace to to pull me back.

Until even God
Didn’t have enough
Grace to make me
Anything but a soldier
In a war with
Myself that I’m
Tired of fighting.

Fighting for moments
When the barrel of a gun
Tastes like revolution.

When poetry
is no longer a verb
I can believe in.

When freedom
Is one man
On one stage
With one voice
And enough courage
To be something
When freedom
Is one crowd
In one room
With one voice
And enough courage
To be something

So for the moments
When gravity,
Is everything
Tearing you down:

You,
Are a temple
Where the only God is

You,
Are a map,
To time capsules
Of recipes and
One line poems

You,
Remember gravity made the stars.

Forged them
Bright and burning,
Like a phoenix
From the stardust
Of planets and galaxies
That we once forgot
From the promise of prosperity
That we all had and have
But none of us got.

So gather the ashes
And shake the dust

Like every breath
Is only there
To say goodbye

Like love
Is the moment
You caught your
Mother’s eye

Like hoping to die
Is just another mountain to climb
Another God to find
In the sacred temple
Of your trinity heart

So if you’re ever
Falling apart

Remember bars
Do not make a cage

And wings
Will never set you free

‘Cause
You can spend
Your whole **** life
Wearing a life vest
In the desert

But the bottom of the sky
Is the top of the sea

And sometimes sinking
Pressures chaos
Into courage
Breaks the
Bedrock into beauty
And we can
Erupt again

Rest your head
Today you did your part

Wake on the morrow
Another day to start

When you get down
Tell yourself this:

Today is the struggle
Tomorrow is bliss

She sat beside herself and asked,
“Do you know where this feeling’s from?”
Her self stared back at her, unmasked,
And wondered who she had become.

Who but herself could ever know,
These things she thought that she once knew?
“I barely know you now, and so,
When was the last time you were you?”

The two of them, just her and her,
Each tried her best to understand.
Her self said, “Why are you so sure
You’re not exactly who you planned?”

“I wanted to be you instead,
Before you filled me with regret.”
Her wounded self smiled back and said,
“Perhaps you haven’t been you yet.”

My feelings leak
Through this hand, through this pen
My feelings crave
For reprieve, for an end
To echoed voices
And venomous critics

But maybe
Not
Today

I want to change me
Too bad I'm a piece of sh*t
My brain tells me this

Sometimes a voice in your head will tell you that you are a disappointment.  Look that thing in the eye and say, "You're a disappointment!"

Then realize that you are still shouting negative things at yourself in the mirror.  Second thought, don't.  Please don't take advice like this from me.