Your touch is not foreign to me
I have known it many times
Mysterious the origin of it remains

I can sense your presence
Before even the physical touch
Today you are near

Will I feel your gentle caress along my cheeks?
Will I taste the sweet sweaty salt
That accompanies your touch?

Will I hurry to brush you aside?
Or will I linger in your presence?
Will I find comfort in your touch?

We spent many nights together
Intimately so
Simply for each other’s sake

I fell asleep in your embrace
Night after night after night
You were my safe haven

I pushed you away
Afraid of our connection
Of who I was becoming

I miss the times we had together
The long nights in your embrace
The knowledge that what I felt was real

Today I feel your presence
Behind my eyes, as you always begin
But will I feel your touch?

I am no one’s hero, no one’s savior
I am only me
I am but one man with one man’s ideas
I can only control myself
I have a particular way about me that many find off putting
And others find inspiring
I have not come to save the day
If that is what you’re waiting for, you will die
I can lead and guide
I can make suggestions
I can lean on the wisdom of those that have come before me
But I cannot save you
Your salvation is your responsibility
Take control of your own destiny
Chase the life you want
I will be here to support you
I am not Superman nor Spider-man
I cannot hear your screams above the noise of night
I cannot fly through the air at great speeds to rescue a damsel in distress
I have not superpowers with which to emancipate
I am but a single human man
And a frail one at that
So do not look at me with those eyes
Do not await my triumphant entrance
When I arrive, it will be humbly
You will make me out to be more than I am
You will tell stories of my great deeds that are grossly exaggerated
You will make a hero of me in the hearts of others
But I am just a man
I implore you, please, take control of your own life
Your own decisions, your own path
I can be of much more help if you do
I am but a weak man
And cannot bear the weight you have asked me to
I am not your savior
I am only me

The gods have conspired
They have a message
For me, for you, for us:
Slow down
Wake up
Pay attention

We coast through life
Rushing from here to there
Life a blur
Our focus on what is next
The next dollar
The next function
The next day
The next

Slow down
Rushing is fruitless
It gets you not to where you want to be
Nor where you need to be
Any faster
Only more flustered

Wake up
Stop drifting through life
As if a dream
The worst of all dreams
Until one day you are forty
With only hypertension
As proof of life lived

Pay attention
Look around at all there is
The world is your oyster
You’ve shut out all that is beautiful
All that is worthy
In order to rush

Snow has covered the earth
Bitter cold has enveloped the air
The wind is screaming
Slow down!
Wake up!
Pay attention!
The gods have conspired.

The wind, she howls
Cold air bites
The tips of fingers
Noses and ears

A clear sky
Is a fickle friend
Allowing warmth of sunshine
And bitter cold

Tiny hairs
Within my nose
Freeze with every breath
I am alive

Eyelashes, too
Frozen in time
From the tears
The wind has caused

The air, dry
Almost thirsty
Pulls moisture
From my skin

Frigid temps
Extreme conditions
Our world goes on
Unapologetically

Clarity
As if a rare flower
Found only in the depths
Of remote jungles
Eludes me

Searching
For that which cannot be found
The Loch Ness monster
Atlantis and focus
All are a myth

Fog
Ever present
Clouds cover my mind
Engulfing my thoughts
Choking their oxygen

Brain
Zig zags about
From one idea to the next
Like a wild horse
With no reigns

Stomach
Churns with anxiety
As I force these words
Onto a screen
For someone to read

Writing
Not a chore
Though today my love
Is work
Like any relationship

Fault
Lies with no one in particular
But all parties
Equally culpable
We struggle together

Together
We stay
I will not leave
Nor will you
So we press on

Perseverance
In the face of adversity
Like a bunny chased
By a hungry fox
I will not give up

Together
Mind, body, soul
We conspire to create
Somedays greatness
Others - just something

A cluttered mess of worthless thoughts
My brain is much like the atmosphere today - foggy
Ideas, thoughts, notions fluttering every which way
None particularly interesting
None particularly clear
Some may name this writer’s block
For me it’s just residue
Gunk that needs to be cleaned out
I want to follow none of these notions
For they are dead ends
Yet I feel there is no choice
Even now they distract me
Slowing my fingers from typing the words that attempt to flow from them Sometimes it’s because there are so many great thoughts
I need only to find clarity
Sometimes there are no great thoughts
Just distraction
My fingers do the workout
My mind gets the benefit
Type type type
Write write write
This is how I clean

My body weak from the emotional toll
Of the last ten days
I sit, awake, but barely
Nine hours of sleep was not enough
To recharge my soul
I sip coffee and search for words
I rub my eyes and yawn
I have worked out and prepared for the day
And still feel dead to the world
The dog jets around the house
Looking for a partner to play
I drift into thoughts of nothing
Asleep with my eyes open
I will wake up the family soon
There will be no going back from there
For now, the illusion of rest