How To Fit It All In One Day

Maybe you are grappling,
With what you can achieve,
In the short time that you have on this earth,
Before you have to leave,

Perhaps you don't know what it is you want,
God knows I still wonder,
It's bad enough we have to eat and sleep,
Each one of us has to sit and ponder,

For those who think it is a unique gift,
Look what it's led us to,
You think animals have less fulfilled lives,
'Cause they don't refine fuel?

Get outta here,
Do what makes you feel heard,
Everything is out the window now,
The way it should have been from the first word.

How Do We Know?

Fear is fear of something,
That hasn't happened, yet,
Enveloped in the journey to get there,
History prepackaged,

'fyou could've only seen more of the past,
Unravelled before you,
You could have changed it before it happened,
And turned that fear into excitement, too,

Guess you could look at the silver lining,
The past's not ever passed,
It changes to explain what you have done,
Unmeasurably fast,

Unless you - look,
Sorry, I lost my thought,
Let's just say all things have a narrative,
To explain what you've done and what you’ve not.

I See You

I just got new glasses,
They are my second pair,
Unless you own a pair of glasses, too,
I'm betting you don't care,

Just like me when my eyesight was perfect,
When I was young, like you,
You and me, we are exactly the same,
Living on opposite sides of a cube,

The other sides are variations, too,
Luck is what's put us here,
Or chance, or someone etched us with a tool,
The odds for all are peer.

Oh, don't you see?
It is not about sight,
I see just the same as the next person,
That is, if we lived the exact same life.

The Next Stage

What do you think of me,
When I speak out like this,
As if my thoughts are in tune with the world,
If it even exists,

Oh, sure, you can say what you want to, too,
You know that I'm all ears,
I will take your words and put them with mine,
Now we each have one less person to fear,

Because now we both know the other's real,
Unless we're seeing things,
Which is fine, because there's a pill for that,
Better they clip the wings,

Of someone else!
I've come out of my shell,
I couldn't go back if I wanted to,
Though, if I could that would be cool as hell.

Transforming Time

When you find a moment,
Transform it into time,
Do something that would never have been done,
That is what is sublime,

That is what is the human unique trait,
Maybe animals too,
Maybe the rocks, robots, and aliens,
Of course, we can never walk in their shoes,

Or in each other's shoes either, really,
This all could be a dream,
Maybe if we transform the same moment,
I'll see you, you'll see me,

Would we e'en know?
What would be different?
It's faith that makes the world around you real,
There isn't another ingredient.

Not a Bad Idea

One day you'll reach a stage,
You never'd guess exists,
Where who you were is something in the past,
You see could not persist,

Nor could you e'er return to it again,
You'd never be the same,
You bit an apple that gave you knowledge,
You'd need to remove a piece of your brain,

I think they call it a lobotomy,
Not a bad idea,
It's something to keep in my back pocket.
If I ever see ya,

Let me forget,
What I once could have been,
You cannot grow to your full potential,
And still feel you've got reasons for living.

Just Hanging

Ev'rything is quiet,
Both cats silently stare,
The hammock's rocking while i search the sky,
In the late day's cool air,

A bird makes a noise and startles Clover,
The bird is not to blame,
I've got a Talking Heads song in my head,
I swear I don't even know its real name,

The breeze doesn't care about where it goes,
Or whether someone cares,
Or cares about caring about money,
It's only made of air,

Just like we are,
It's hot, escaping fast,
Astrid's still where she'll be an hour from now,
Lying still, looking around, eating grass.

Here We GO

I thought I'd forgotten,
All the lessons I'd learned,
There's too much in my head at the moment,
To acc'ratley discern,

In any meaningful way what I know,
Here's where I am modest,
Again, not being in a stat to say,
That not knowing is really for the best,

Unless you're trying to make a diff'rence,
Then you best know something,
E'en if in the deepest cell of you're heart,
You know it is nothing,

Because it is,
Just like everything,
Ok, I did just spend time writing this,
Tell me what else that I should be doing.

The Challengers

I cannot see too well,
Well, well enough to see,
That sometimes when you tell your self something,
It's not quite what it seems,

It could be that you're just fooling your self,
For a very good cause,
Because when you have more experience,
You'll be doing things no body else does,

Which doesn't mean it will mean anything,
Do not get your hopes up,
It's like any great movie that you've seen,
First you've got to well up,

To know you're real,
No one else should teach this,
They've said it over and over again,
This may as well fucking be the abyss.

Choices

You know what they say,
I don't have to tell you,
When given the choice 'tween risky and safe,
There's no doubt what to do,

Yet what's desired most is that they're the same,
Both feelings live as one,
Since no matter what, no choice is complete,
Without luck's unpredictable outcome,

'Cause when you look back at the choice you made,
You have to be okay,
Even the safe choice is risky these days,
Well, it's e'er been that way,

The past's the key,
To knowing what is right,
Think you made the choice then think how you'd feel,
Choose the path that gave you the most delight.

Survivor

I turn fifty this year,
I know, you’re like, “I bet”,
I’d not watched Survivor since season 8,
When Rob and Amber met,

But now I’ve been obsessed since forty-one,
Here's what I've done between:
Project managed million dollar events,
Doing my masters and raising two teens,

Two years ago I quit my lifer job,
Because I got Covid,
Now I'm at a non-profit center for,

The mental health of kids.

I like to write,
I've done radio, too,
I think I would do well on Survivor,
I thrive in environments that are new.

Still Here

My god, it's been so long,
This doesn't even count,
I'm only feeling guilty about life,
More than I can recount,

I do it so I don't get anywhere,
It's more than I deserve,
At least that's the only thing I can say,
So's as not to admit I'd lost my nerve,

Of course that thinking is behind me now,
I have no time to lose,
That is the reality I must live
According to the news.

Know what I mean?
The conundrum of it,
The fact is it could all be meaningless,
You guffaw, but it can't be refuted.

Ode to Survivor

I am on Survivor,
So is everyone,
Not in a superfan obsession way.
But all my relations,

Where they fit in the ultimate final,
Where only one is left,
Not in some weird 'there must be just one' way,
But in all of our own personal quest,

Finding yourself and what makes you the best,
At what it is you do,
Not at the expense of anyone else,
But as relates to you,

When the tribe speaks,
You will get all the votes,
Not from the tribe that's made of your rivals,
But from the jury who've all worn your coat.

When a Tree Falls in the Forest

Why has it been so long?
Who says that it has been?
You think just because I'm not posting here,
No output if unseen?

No more questions, I'm sounding aggressive,
Though, why the hell can't I?
Should not one's output tell you all of them,
From grand epiphanies to petty crimes?

Enough questions, let's get to the real point,
Or do you think there's none?
I can't imagine saying anything,
Without some intention.

What do you think?
Sorry, I just stepped out,
If you said something, you did not say it,
For I didn't hear what it was about.

The Two Swords

There are times in this world,
For pure satisfaction,
Embrace the moment like that's all there is,
To spur 'magination,

Then there are times to view the horizon,
Imagine yourself there,
Chart out the best route methodically,
For fortune does not come out of thin air,

just like there is no overnight success,
Without lots of hard toil,
If I'd figured that out decades ago...
Well, regret's the sole's soil,

Back to the world,
That is the horizon,
Let bliss be the north star that guides your way,
Just do the work to maintain your motion.

The Universal Survey

If you asked a question,
Of ev'ryone you know,
Individually, without sharing,
Where other answers go,

What question would it need to be to have,
All answers in common?
"Do you want peace?", "Do you have what you want?",
"Is there a difference between humans?",

"Do you want ev'ryone to be the same?",
"Can you and I be friends?",
"Do you think we have the communal will,
"To bring war to an end?"

What about me?
Yes, no, no, no, yes, no,
I guess if you're reading this it's a start,
Try sending it to ev'ryone you know.

A Meditation

Some things should not be said,
They should be done, instead,
The very act of putting words to them,
Leaves the intention dead,

You want an example, I can't give one,
For the exact reason,
Just know that as you are consuming this,
It's only possible through my action,

How long it took you are welcome to guess,
Let your mind do the rest,
Extract the meaning only you can find,
Or what's left out, at best,

Now off you go,
I mean no disrespect,
If you give me some benefit of doubt,
You may find my expression is perfect.

A Downer

Two plus two equals four,
Five times three is fifteen,
Add them together and then you can drink,
Except in Tamuning,

Plus other places owned by the U.S.,
But you can buy a gun,
This ain't a critique of America,
I've not the stomach for revolution,

To tell the truth, I'm not even from there,
But, oh boy, I'd be screwed,
If that empire actually died,
I bet that you'd be, too,

But there are those,
Who'd welcome its demise,
Unless it meant nuclear holocaust,
I don't have enough lines to make this nice.

Here’s The Problem

It's best we all hustle,
If we want to survive,
Make sure that we all know every angle,
To keep ourselves alive,

Understanding what will help or hurt us,
Given any human,
Not forgetting that we all are equal,
To hustle you do not have to be mean,

Just like CEOs don't have to either,
Nor does your jealous friend,
We know that if everyone was just nice,
All world conflict would end,

That's de facto,
You cannot pretend,
That government would even be a thing,
If we all just had the best intentions.

Stop Reading

Here's the thing about faith,
In a god or in you,
Assuming there's a diff'rence between them,
That's not in my purview,

In either case you are taking a leap,
Without a guarantee,
That instead of you being rewarded,
When you land you won't crush your hopes and dreams,

The alternative's familiar to all,
You're doing it right now,
Not that reading is a big waste of time,
But we know it's not how,

To make a life,
'Least that's what my dad said,
He was always fearful of what I'd learn,
Absorbing the thoughts from another's head.