Twilight whispers,
Awakens shadows,

Dreams unfurl o'er the sylvan edge,
As moonlight's kiss gives voice to night,
And stars twirl o'er temporal hedge,

Veiled in dusk’s embrace,
A creeping bramble begins its chase,
Bidding flowers of morrow stay.

Yet single bud defies the dark.
Though twilight’s tendrils encroach,
It bursts upon the darkening gloom,
The undeterred,
Of transient beauty.

the people, in jostle,
of divers emotion,
eddied by current,
eternal motion,

this one pushing a nascent life,
this one pushed by trouble and strife,
this one sniffing his way to heaven,
this one sniveling twix six or seven,
this one's nose high up in the air,
this one's tripping with jazz a-blare

discordant melody that rocks the earth
surrounds one's life from home and hearth

happy's the one who attaches to spirit,
thinks instead of repeating like parrot,
material of life to disinherit,
dissolves the chains, the collar of garrote.

there's a millstone round my neck
splitting twain my weary head
life reduced to living wreck
from that day that i was wed

They spun their tangled, divers lies,
hid the awful, tamed the spies,
Caught within their sticky web
now my vital force in ebb

in ebb
in ebb

suffering fate reserved for flies
day by day, and year by year
takes its toll, no surprise,
here's a hamster running sphere

parlaying quality action,
obedience to inner voice
in thought, speech, or sanction,
aware of Divine free choice

self-worth for obeisance to opinion
inflating a doomed balloon,
bowing to man, unworthy dominion,
weaving an iron cocoon

insides beats rhythm of hopes and dreams,
like jazz, pulsating nowhere,
screaming aloud it ain't what it seems,
a world that's doomed to failure

Step forward instead of backward
Lift up instead of put down
Help instead of hurt
Love instead of hate
Inspire instead of limit
Kindness instead of harshness
Integrity instead of corruption
Lightness instead of darkness
Hope instead of despair
Laughter instead of tears
Creativity instead of bland
Dancing instead of sitting
Tolerance instead of none
Positivity instead of negativity
Possible instead of impossible
Step forward

Between a rock and a hard place you can find
A blessing in disguise of the challenging kind,
As every cloud has a silver lining (so I'm told),
Go chase the rainbows and the pots o' gold.

At the end of the day, hit the ground running,
Think out of the box, be ever so stunning,
Touch base and break the glass-ceiling,
Push the envelope, leave others reeling.

But throwing 'em 'neath the bus is an ignoble act,
And actions speak louder than words (-that's a fact),
So by all means make lemonade when life gives you lemons,
But don't use folks as step-stones to embrace your demons.

Better late than never, they always say,
But it is what it is, come what may.
Now the ball's in your court: take it to the next level,
In this game of clichés, we're quite the devil.