As I Am

I stand before you as I am
as I go with the tide
You may embrace me in your arms
or elbow me aside

I may come up with decent rhyme
But outside of that verse
I'm not even a hack of a poet
I may turn out a pleasant line
But I belong with no writers
beyond that scrap of a note

Seasons of the Mind

Sometimes, there is calm
a small oasis of summer
in cold, clammy November
Sometimes, there is alarm
a black cloud spewing rain
in a cacophony of thunder

Sometimes, the will grows weak
a candlewick that flickers
in the blustery wind of autumn
Sometimes, the resolve runs strong
a bonfire that blazes on
announcing spring has come

Play

I feel I'm a lot older now
yet somehow like a child again
All the world is a playground
and everyone I meet, a friend
I feel a-whirl on the merry-go-round
On the swings, I'm kissed by the wind
For a while, on the see-saw, I'm down
Then, all of a sudden, up goes my end

I feel like a man of my own
yet connected with all the others
All the world is a jazz show 'n'
everyone I meet, band members
The spotlight is thrown on me
when my solo starts working my fingers
When I run out, the light moves on
and I blend back with the backup singers

Freedom

There is no belonging so beloved
it can't be given away
There is no belief so blessed
it can't be driven away

The limbs may be in shackles
The binds may buckle the knees
But the mind on its travels
spans seconds to centuries,
soaring on the thermals
from ghettos to galaxies *

* "ghettos to galaxies" borrowed from a verse on the GangStarr track, Next Time

Spontaneity

🍼 👶 you see a smiling, cute baby,
😀 😊 your lips curve up in response;
👦 🎉 ... an old friend milling about a party,
🙋 🤗 your face lights up at the chance;

👩 😭 you see a weeping mother,
😔 😢 a lump lodges in your throat too;
🤕 🆎 you see a bleeding soldier,
😔 💓 a twinge tugs at your heart too;

👂 🎶 you hear a moving melody,
🗣 🎤 your voice starts humming the line;
👂 🥁 you hear a gripping drumbeat,
🖐 👋 your fingers start drumming in time

🔴 ⚠ you see a tennis ball miss by a centimetre,
😲 😶 and your mouth lets out a gasp;
🎾 🌠 you witness a hissing forehand winner,
🙌 👏 now your hands erupt in claps