Your salvation

Is for all of life

It’s for now

This moment

It’s a special knowing

That you are always held

Always always always

Always the beloved

Stand but breathe

Lead but breathe

Be the calming presence

And keep breathing

Whisper consolation

To each other and sing

Sing for, sing with, sing until

You’re convinced of joy

Your salvation

Is for all of life

It’s for now

This moment

Along the backside of the trailer

There are cinder blocks sitting in the mud

Filled with water that’s red from rust

And the rebar is so bloody and twisted

That it looks like the legs of a wolf spider

And it’s hot like only South Carolina is hot

And the gnats and mosquitoes make it suck

Sweat burns everywhere and rashes wail

And the window air-conditioning unit

Is stirring up dust from last fall and winter

Spraying it across allergic skin

My signature song

And all I know is that I don’t like it here at all

That is something I know for sure

‘Cause that heat and yuck

Wasn’t the worst part by far

‘Cause even with

The screaming blotches and the cracked skin

The worst of it came from not being seen

How do you endure being ignored

While constantly keeping yourself from scratching

How do you juggle

The certainty of complete disregard

With the long hell of summer

My lack

Of aspiration

Has come back

To bite me

Because

I’m not able

To balance

The transcendent

And the dust

I just stare

Straight ahead

All day long

I just suppose

That everything

Is stupid

As the sun rises

I just suppose

That everything

Is stupid

As the sun sets

“Boo” say the powerless

And tyrants say “use your words”

But emotion for the oppressed

Is the strongest tool available

Because ticking time bombs

And ticking time mobs

If nothing else, are heard and seen

And when the ground shakes

And the smoke clears

Kings and kingdoms must then decide

If it is worth the stench

If it is worth the ache

When I

Choose to

Walk alone

I cannot blame others for not being close

There are consequences

The results are in

When I

Climb down

Too low

I cannot choose to question the cold

There are consequences

The results are in

When I

Leave you

Over there

I cannot wonder why you haven’t shown

There are consequences

The results are in

When I

Sulk such

Sorrowful songs

I cannot plead for friends to sing along

There are consequences

The results are in

Optimism

Is like a grumpy neighbor

You never see

But know is watching you

All hours of the night

Optimism

Is for people with a pulse

Who are patient

And long-suffering

And steadfast

Optimism

Has always been a friend

But today is merely algae

Barely alive and covering

Smothered and comatose

What does it feel like

And what is it

Why does it crush

And step on with sadness

Why does it aggravate

And churn and bubble

I hate it

I hate it’s faithfulness

I hate it’s grip

I hate it’s bite

The apostle

Always tastes opportunity

He gags himself with it

She approaches every corner with glee

And it is there and it is there and it is there

And when the disappointment is thick

Opportunity rings a bell

And the soul snaps awake

And any renegade worth their salt

Finds the floor

Finds the door

Finds the first hint

Of triumph

And drives hard

Stare down

Focus on the pebbles

All dusty – all shiny

Blistering heat

And not much will

So picking one

From all the others

Doesn’t seem to matter

And too many times

I manage to pinch

The thumb and the forefinger

Around the lucky winner

But the journey

To stand up

Straighten up

With any measure of hope

Is just too much

Dropped pebble

Dropped dream

You don’t know how lucky you are

And you don’t know how lucky you are

And you, you don’t know how lucky you are

And isn’t that just the window tint of it all

Cause for you, and you, and also you

It’s much sunnier than you know, Man!

It’s not the bleak planet you suppose

It’s not the bleak planet you say you know

It’s not – not even a little bit

Not even a little