Sunday, November 22, 2015

Live Better

Live better. Head out to the open sea,
Look at the stars, climb up the mizzen-mast
So you'll look backwards, too, both at the past
And at the heart of things. Speak carefully.
Look forward if you must, but stop with me
And take a moment now. These moments last
If you don't lose heart. Hold the present fast:
Engage with good friends, climb a maple tree.

Choose sweetness over doubt, let white snowflakes
Fall on your tongue, argue about the stars,
Climb sunlit fences, plan your trip to Mars,
Improve the world. Avoid the worst mistakes:
Dismissing love, setting aside cream cakes,
Leaving the jams in their unopened jars.

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Dim Moonglow

I thought that you were someone else, but no,
Your faces all turn into cloudy haze
And melt away like fog on misty days.
I thought I knew how these ideas grow,
But wasn't ready for this kind of show,
A tripping through the dark fantastic maze
Of personalities, myriad ways
To untruth, unembarrassed dim moonglow.

The truth breaks sometimes, but mostly it bends
As you distort it, like when you told me
Who you had been before, who you would be
From now on, and how far the truth extends.
What was the truth? You say we could be friends,
And, disrespectfully, I disagree.