I want to be back visiting
By the roundabout at 17
On the fallen grandpa tree
Me reaching you reaching me

I want to cross the northern sea
And drop the accent just less mean
And take a dip in the evening
Me reaching you reaching me

And if the farthest climb and stare
Lands us in the mission well
We will have all the charity
Me reaching you reaching me

I want to repeat birth one two three
Yes, skip some steps in between
But enjoy again most everything
Me reaching you reaching me

And if the farthest climb and stare
Lands us in the mission well
We will have all the charity
Me reaching you reaching me

Oh the pulchritudinous
Nature of blankness
Before – so appalling
Now – becoming
I rallied once
Behind nerves of steal
Thinking endurance
Was something that focus
Would seal
But now nothing at all
On the edge of the knife
Can be blown here or there
And that evenness is like
Everything I’ve needed
Like everything I’ve lacked
It’s the presence
Of the resolute
With no knife in your back

Oh silly chatty boys
What sweet diddly-doo
Two friends like George
Or just like Lennie
Or perhaps one of each
But I doubt it really
The movie in your heads
Has you both in the lead
But the way you are perceived
By the audience is neither
Sharp nor dull nor brilliant nor dumb
But somewhere in the middle
Where mediocre comes from
And how I wish with magic wand
I could make stars out of want
But star-maker I am not
Especially when the ingredients
Are missing quite a lot

I’d like six more
But I’m so spoiled with 10
Open to the late afternoon
But would I consider it all
To be yet another big blessing
If too I could add to
Yes and yes and so a plea
To enlarge my lot
To increase the glory
To win what is seen
To clamor on happy

If you are my legacy
Then it couldn’t be better
I would pay to follow
I would watch and roar
I’d stare in disbelief
And wonder at the mountain peak
How a watch can be a tower
How a trickle can be a deluge
I’d probably just smile
And laugh my stupid laugh
With a split and muted brain
Disconnected from sensible words
I know I wouldn’t be able
To adequately explain
How proud I am of you
At eighteen

Why so languid
In the crowd
That’s where you should
Buzz and be
But something sleeps
And I don’t know why
But something snoozes
When kisses should fly
Standing leaders alone
Or dodging the clock
I can’t say
But it looks lazy
It looks grim
And the precious
Don’t long to lay
And the previous
Notice how things
Improve a bit
When you hide

Not lethal
Not a little
As he thinks
Is it unfair
To write “simpleton”
On his underwear
Perhaps
But I wonder
What mechanics
Interfere
With the flow
Of reason
What colors
A broken boy
Cause it’s green
But why
And it’s red
But why
And it’s blue
And drip dry
So thickly sad
So thickly grim
Cause some wives
Won’t ride
The same wheel
That many times
And I worry
He is that blank
And I worry
He is not

For a bit the tides were frozen
But aspirations are returning
For that pause access was denied
It was a monster’s endless yawn
But just as everyone was walking away
Turning their back on a forever stay
A climber emerged, lead by a finger
Breathless and wise with raw hope
That great will indeed greet the day
That there will be rather something
For the biggest fear of the violin
Is not that it will not be played
But that it will be forgotten

King that nobleman
And note the deep
Note the goodness
Filled and flowing
Polish that kinship
And let me know how
A likeness is such
From one to mass
It’s like the nations
Can see a truth
And know it’s so
In the middle of day
Can see a man
And lay down grins
Universal and agreed upon

I laugh at you now
With your puppy-eyed pout
Your whole life
Is a back-handed compliment
So forgive me if
I struggle to shed a tear
In truth I hope
You get the go
I’d love to see
Your next move
Though why do I
Keep hoping to be
Shocked by anything you do
You have no play
Except to run
Back to mom
For where you are now
Had more to do with
Deep sad desperation
Than any sort of bravery
You’re the orphan of courage
Left stranded at the door
Of entitlement