σύζυγος
The shifting water in my mind of glass,
The harbor painted white by specious snow
With homes on oceanfront unoccupied,
I’m shaken by a hand I did not know,
And placed upon a shelf for all to see.
It now appears as if the scene began,
The drifting winter in my mind of glass
That merely lasts a minute and a half.
Behold, my child, the flowing road below,
A river underneath that rushes past.
A blur of motion urges us to go.
The eye is fooled to think we must be fast
Now look ahead and spy the distant hill.
The mountain crawls along horizon’s edge,
The clouds above are nearly standing still,
And none can tell the sun to rise and set.
Your focus changes everything, I say,
Perspective is the greatest tool you own.
If things are slow then watch the day-by-day
The small details will show how much you’ve grown.
If things move fast then look towards the goal
And let the stableness refresh your soul.
Appreciation only hides in gaps
Between the darkest pits and brightest peaks.
Consider it a graceful cave that traps
Destructive ideologies.
“Entitlement,” we named the glutton brute,
Ferocious imp consuming joy and peace,
Grotesquely chewing on the prideful root,
His appetite will grow the more he eats.
In time, the fiend emerges from its lair
Just shambling upwards searching hungry for
Kilometers into the crispy mountain air
Like starving wolves that marked the scent of gore.
Mistakes like these are often found too late,
Neglect or sloth the cause of bedrock flaws.
Oppressed by selfish urges far too great,
Profane belief that they deserve applause.
Quiescence only comes with quiet time:
Recall that nothing ever truly lasts,
Sustain humility despite the climb
To then appreciate the now and past.
Until it ends for good and we look back,
Vitality reduced to wrinkled hands,
When satisfaction is the thing they lack,
Explain to them and pray they understand.
Your highs and lows are there with purpose, too,
Zeroing out to be what’s meant for you.
Hello and welcome, Friend, to planet Earth.
The trip was long. Have you arrived in peace?
No matter what our people may have heard,
The battles on the surface have not ceased.
Your safety is my number one concern
So please stay hidden ’til we verify
That during your descent they will not turn
To shoot this vehicle out of the sky.
Awash in blood and smog and swarms of gray,
Their few get fat while many fight for crumbs.
Mankind believes that there’s no better way,
But nature shudders as they beat their drums.
I wish to meet them too, but there’s a need
To wait until the day they kill their greed.
Suzugos