If You Don't Jump Over The Edge...

If You Don't Jump Over The Edge You Will Never Know What Is At The Bottom.
in recent nights
i have enjoyed the role
of being a spectator
far more than
the good time drunk
that i would some times be.
to be the man of clear mind
amidst those whose minds
have taken a brief sabbatical
has been enlightening.
where once i would have been
in the middle of such madness
now i can look on and be in it
but not of it.
seeing young women
in states of extreme inebriation,
seeing young men yelling to each other
or making advances on
those same young women
takes on an air of
a comedic drama.
drinks are poured and imbibed,
stories are relayed,
music is played,
feet stumble in the dark,
smoke emanates from mouths
and friendships are made
for one time uses.
it could all be preparation
for the time
when such gatherings
will have to end
by sheer necessity
to the lives that will
soon be led.
mistakes are made by the gross,
lessons learned by the handful
and innocence lost by the bushel.
my time to join in will come again
but not without the lessons i am learning
from my experience and observation.
the morning after
is always the cruelest of teachers.


the soul disease
bring silence
and learn to live
with the sound of nothing.
that is the greatest fear
of the modern mind...
to live in absolute
silence.
to do such
would drive
most men
of our time
to madness.

a pass in time
your reflection
is passing in the mirror
and as soon as you have gone
it too will have
left.
i see you in my mind
for those brief moments
that our two paths
crossed.
perhaps we will meet again
some other night.
perhaps we will never meet again.


the artist as sculptor
and creator of worlds.


gente
flowers blooming
in the summer sun
will never again
look so beautiful.
wither and die
or plucked out
and left to wait
in a watery
coffin.