This plainess that I feel right now,
is really quite an art.
The people yelling feverishly are all but just a part.
A part of this humongous ocean tide called life.

It seems like just a day ago, I felt I needed more
I needed visibility, love, and more, more, more.
It feels like just the purity and carelessness of life
is that what I so needed in my attempts at living life.

It turns out you dont have to worry
you don't have to think
about your looks, who loves you and about what you should think.
Apparently this stillness, this plainess that's inside,
this easy going carelessness that you don't have to hide
is just what people notice about you wanting more
about you craving love and attention and what's for you in store.

They'll crave for your attention
and will want to be with you.
It's funny how instead of you
They're the ones craving more.

We are separated
Like the sky and the earth

You are filled with potential that once felt like expectation
the ruggedness of a thousand wild stallions running to the course of their strong united heartbeats
and of the sweat and blood that you've merited your endeavors with

I am filled with ribbons of gentle caresses and a familiarity with the unnoticed weight long hair brings
determination like that of the tired
ceaseless tide that rises up again each morning
and of sweet and salty compulsions

We are separated
Like the Heavens and Earth

You are more than the smell of leather and Copenhagen
You are more than the litter of miscellaneous items next to an inevitable jar of change sitting on your wooden dresser
an exact replica of the Skaggs males' before you.
You are more than calloused hands and a beautiful voice that crawls out and harmonizes with cicadas in the heavy heat lingering into the August night.
You are more than the millions of melodies you've blessed us with
More than the far away look in your hazel eyes as you master your guitar
More than your hearty laugh that delights my soul
More than your kind spirit
More than your careful words
More than your wise wife
More than your delicate girl that I hear call me Aunt
But these things stack on top of one another
Like bricks of a building under construction
Beams of titanium not unlike a skeleton protude into the clouds
Ultimately creating the tower I will proudly claim as my older brother
Directing my acquaintances' attention to the structure that
in this moment
unfinished even
eclipses the sun
Casts a shadow over me
a cool blanket of security
I know the closer that I draw to you
the less I will see of the shambles of other buildings that never compared to you
My view of the misleading wooden structures behind you that will be set afire or deteriorate in the constant turning of gears in the clock of time
will be obscured by your sheer splendor

We are separated
Like the sky and the earth underneath me

And just like the two we are connected further down
The horizon
where we will meet is filled with bittersweet triumph painted in the oranges and pinks of the sunset
I turn and see the horizon behind me
where we began
in all of its plainess
Our childhood in a gray
Hillcrest Terrace
Friday night prayer
Denim and pattles
Oatmeal and cough drops
Iced tea and lilac bushes
All threaded neatly into the full drops of rain that fall from you to I
Connecting the ground and the sky
I turn back to the front and admire what I imagine it will be
Our children's loose teeth
and long cramped car rides
Porch swings and homeschool books
Owned land and old trees
Laughter and loyalty
Irony and victory

We are separated
Like the sky and the ground

But we run in the same direction
not interrupting the others' path
I was not there with you when you let the heaviness of the thoughts in your head fall into your awaiting hands as your shoulders shook
Every ragged breath tinged with cheap whiskey
But I have followed suit of my own accord
I was not there with you when you questioned your very identity until you wondered if you would  recognize yourself if he called you by name
But I may have been caught contemplating the same
I was not there with you when you were overanalyzing one of our sisters' new boyfriend's character and gauging his deservingness
But I often did exactly that
And I was not there with you when you fell in love with your beautiful lady and decided to make her yours
But I was praying for it to be her

An endless fire burns inside me
Searching for
courage I won't have
and words I can't find
Until I can heat you with these flames
I will continue to look at you while you are preoccupied and let the words choke in my neck as reverence floods me for this man who
like his father
remains oblivious to his massive impact and priceless company

Everything I said,
Was from fear of the stake,
Purity and plainess,
A radical simplification,
Not living or loving,
I wouldn't have missed you,
For the world,
Never to my god,
Than these things.

Oh, the things you don't know going on in my mind.
Oh, they are nothing bad in the least.
Over breakfast, you're lovely to look at.

We sometimes give compliments when you all dress up.
I'm giving you mine the way you look now.
What I am in good?
I owe to you.

What bad that's in you?
Brings out the bad boy side in me.
Except in a good way.
You're lovely to look at.
Whether it day or night.

Makeup enhances you.
Plainess brings out the best in you.
And these are the qualities that impresses me.

Stay you.
Stay this rare eyes of joy.
Stay true.
Stay true to the qualities of love.
Stay you.
Stay focus on the words of the Lord.
I, as a man can't ask for anything more.

covering the plainess

i give them cardigans with buttons
and sometimes dots

i looked out yesterday at the rain
on and off all day

thankyou
we are all looking after ourselves
carefully here as you suggested

family, few friends too

as I hope you are too

there is a routine come natural
with walking peering
and poking with sticks

there is drawing as you know
and they come as magic for company

the red especially

thick and covering the plainess

i give them cardigans with buttons
and sometimes dots

i looked out yesterday at the raining
on and off all day

washing in and out

then cotton bits ironed for i like the feel of it

you look after yourselves too