Sober now
Determined to stay that way
And engaged with reality as we know it
So many moving parts
So little time
Fixed speeds
Just when you think you’re the ringmaster
Life tosses you another curveball
You never saw coming
A reminder that the parts are not the whole
And the tug between them
Contains so much art
Delicacies all worth savoring
Nibble by delightful nibble

Dipping my toes in the water of our connectedness
Touching that bliss, walls fall, hearts meet
Taking care not to dive in too deep
At this church
On this earth we are mortal
Children depend on us
And our ability to be present
In the madness of it all
Living requires
Delayed comprehension
A willingness to take a lot for granted
To dance at a wedding
And type words to no one
While the soul yearns for freedom from its cage.

If we really fear
That we are powerful beyond measure
Maybe we just needed to feel poor for a while
To be out of the spotlight for a while
To let others shine for a while
But no one can play our part
So the system isn’t working right
We all need to jump back in
Because everything you want is a few steps away
Let’s burn the journals already
Make a bunch of new mistakes
And create a world of our own  choosing
Because it never was about you
Or them
Anyway

It took six years
To unravel myself
Peeled layer after layer
Tried on costume after costume
Plunged myself in boiling water
Let go every ounce of control
Until I was naked
On a stage
With only my guitar
And a sense of faith and guidance

I can only *be* from here

As we come closer together
I wonder
Is there any more need for poetry?
Does it obscure more than it shows?
Is it a light or is it shadow?
More connections live in metaphors
Keeping the mystery alive

Under the full moon
Full, like my heart
Bright, like our future
The world is my playground
Just when life couldn’t possibly get any better
It does and it did
And I’m here filled with joy
And now you’re all coming
To share in the feast
We’ve been preparing in my mind
And like Marshall Mathers
I never dreamt in a million years i’d see
So many
Who share the same views
And the same exact beliefs
Like a gathering of fuel
For a huge, sacred fire

Blown away
She must love me closer than skin
Deeper than bone
Your love breaks my heart open
Erasing my mistakes
I cry
Tears of gratefulness
In this moment we are free, in each other
We are free, for each other
We give thanks
And wonder,
As we fly away,
Drunk on love’s nectar,
Just how incredibly beautiful the next flower will be

Can’t move my legs but I can type
Memes swimming around me
We were together again
Two souls, humming, kept apart by clothing and bones
We will always have eternity
The illusion of the temporal is so strong
We think things are just now happening
This is why we must always meditate on the infinite
Or we hold too tightly to a moment
Thinking wrongly
Acting foolishly
It is what it always was
Keep receiving
Keep letting go
Always with a smile

I love swimming in your ocean
Bumping up against your shores
Being tossed in your waves
Thirsting for your salts

I asked God for a clue
He gave me all the answers
Like someone calling to you in a dream
His voice bounced off all the walls
Echoing what I’ve been preaching:
Don’t worry, kid, be happy
It’s compassion once again
It’s letting go of duty
And in poured my salvation
In his timing, not my own
God has never let me down
It was faith I needed foremost