a thousand tides

waiting
keeping watch
searching
scanning horizons
i didn’t realize
that i was looking
for you all my life
waiting
for our
once upon a time
to begin
when i saw you
i ran to meet
you on the shore
of our journey
after all these years
i now know
i would choose to wait
and let a thousands tides
come and go
and let the lonely time
pass me by
if it meant
i could be near you
hear you say my name
yes i would
search for you
night and day
and
wait
this voyage called life
a perilous quest
under storms at night
and bright mornings of peace
living out vows
that we said
when we were kids
you’re still choosing to stay
beside me
i’m still choosing to stay
beside you
across all the wild wild seas
that are behind us
we found treasures
a guiding grace
that will lead us
a slower pace
that will ground us
a grateful space
that settles our minds
navigating
these later years
we get to wait
together
love
together
sitting here
with you
waiting here with you
remembering here
with you
we wait
for one day
the journey will end
until then
we get to wait
together
love
together
be
together
and in the waiting
practice staying
come what may
you’re still choosing to stay
beside me
i’m still choosing to stay
beside you
we
wait

a sweet gentle hum

i am trying to remember
that song
i think it was a duet
before all went wrong
maybe in a minor key
a slow tempo
a slow dance
a sparkling melody
it definitely had harmony
how did that song go

or
more to the counterpoint
where did that song go
i touch a note
play a chord
i rise and fall each day
like a wandering tune
not quite on the beat
trying to see
trying to find
do re mi
trying to find
you and me

the lyrics
started out so sweet
a story of promises
a promise to keep
maybe the strings
had too much tension
maybe the strings
became unwound
wounds have a way
of making their own
sound
telling their own
tale
and they set sail
on an ocean
of i just don’t care
to sing anymore
i put too many quarters
in this silent jukebox
never going back to the shore

three four
four four
six eight
i thought we would
top the charts
with each take
and now the page
is just dots and lines
i’m looking for my entrance
for my cue
i’m looking
i’m looking
for me
and for you

learning a new song
signing a new line
counting us in
not counting us out
like an endless fermata
you waited for me
we had to rest
there is music in that silence
it’s not the best
is yet to come
more like
holding on
holding hands
auditioning again
finding the perfect blend
of our beating broken hearts
let’s start by humming
a sweet
gentle hum
a wordless
song
that tells it all
holds it all
believes it all
and still
loves
the story it tells

so hello clouds

so can we talk about clouds today
it seems they took the sun away
and i’m in my overcast life
there’s something different about this light

so can we talk about clouds today
my head tells me that it’s okay
the Light is here and not far away
but it just doesn’t feel that way

cause in those cloudy skies
i think i see some dreams that cry
and dense dark memories
why did i say those things
or why didn’t i say
anything at all
i wish those clouds would fall
in rain and storms of healing
let it rain
let it rain

so can we talk about clouds today
i suppose if they never came
i might lose the love of Light
and forget that those clouds
do give me sight

i see you and me
and the story
that only can be told
if there are clouds
so dreary is not the end
you’ll see
i choose to sing
to sing out loud

so
hello
clouds

see these shells

see shells

See the shells? I never thought that I would hate seeing sea shells. I love the shore…I love the ocean, but these shells…these shells I would rather not see. Do you see these shells? These jagged, dirty, sad, colorless shells serve as the sidewalk…the road beneath the bare feet of those beautiful children who run across these shells, which occasionally are submerged in sewage…see the shells?…these shells supporting a young boy whose silent stare and precious smile invade my heart…shattering my bent to complain about the smallest inconveniences in my comfortable smart phone filled life…see these shells? I will never again see shells without remembering to pray for the precious men, women and children of Cite Soleil in Haiti. I am eager to return to this city, these children…I don’t want to see these shells, but I will return for all those unseen children….those unseen families….