1.
Come up for air (you said)
the world’s brighter here.
Dive to the depths (I said)
the world’s a mystery there.
And so we lived, diving off
cliffs in exhilaration
Climbing back up to feel
the sun kiss our shoulders,
caress our cheeks.
2.
Forty-two beats each
And every minute
Sixty-six million
a few thousand more
passed us by,
but now, but now
my head, your chest
low chuckles
and I count
them.
3.
In haunting, unwalked paths
lies the burden of choice.
If’s and rather’s
accompany the night.
Taunt is their pleasure
stagnation their aim,
menaces, determined
but unskilled
To live is to choose
And I tie balloons
To burdens.
4.
At the sight of the distant mountains
I want to run away.
Too high, too new, too big,
I thought I
Won’t face today.
Then a gush of wind blew
A soft and soothing song it sang
With a shift, sway and tiny swirl
The dance of reeds began.
Mountains faded into a blur,
Future conquests, distant toils
Today I’ll learn from smaller things
Lessons the dance uncoils.
I’ll reach the mountain’s aging roots
Pockets filled with many a thing
Of lessons heard and lessons learned
In the tiny detailing.
