Present Tense

To live with uncertainty is a certainty of life.

We reconcile this uneasily

but we move forward nonetheless.

My ears are ringing and 

I listen to them for a few moments

before I fall asleep at night.

It's nothing more than a steady reminder

of years spent in the presence of loud

and cathartic music

both as performer and spectator.

Recently I have been wondering

how much more I may have to give

as a performer. I feel uncertain

and that is a new feeling 

with this passion. 

I am learning to be ok with

not knowing.

Mystery must not be extinguished.

It must be left in the margins to exist.

A world where all is known is no world

for imagination. 

I move forward with my feet.

I may be unsure of the path

but I must trust them.

One Moment

I must remember to be grateful

for this gift

Even in joy and sorrow

This is the gift

This moment

Fleeting and

eternal

The Point

Careening towards the future

is all we ever do

Trajectory can be adjusted

The destination is unchanged

Make sense of this life

this world

Choice defines us

The end gives meaning

The journey is the point

Obscured

The years are only as real as you want them to be.

Do you remember being a child

walking through the apartment

while mother was in the kitchen 

and father had yet to arrive from work?

Our memories accrue with each moment

and yet so much goes unremembered,

forgotten until the jar is shaken up.

Father would take you to the airport

and park nearby so the two of you

could watch the planes flying in.

Behemoths soaring across the sky,

touching down in the near distance.

Years later a few miles away

you would be sitting in your car

trying to pull your pants up

as she straightened herself 

as a cop shined his flashlight

into your window 

on an anonymous night.

Waves crashing on the darkened shore.

Moonlight obscured by the clouds.

Uncertainty

Maybe you'll be the one to unite the tribes

and overthrow the yoke

Maybe you'll be standing in front

of a burning city hall

as you and your followers 

move to the next target

on this mission of liberation

Maybe you'll forget

to turn off the kitchen lights

before going to sleep tonight

Maybe you'll live comfortably

in modest luxury

in a small home in rural Mexico

Maybe you'll write the slogans

chanted by thousands

and printed from now

to the end of time

in the struggle against 

our lesser angels

Maybe you'll forget 

to clock in to work

on your first day back

after a two week vacation

Maybe you'll get married

and be content with 

a quiet life in your very own

suburban home

Maybe you'll fall asleep at the wheel

and survive an accident

that should have killed you

Maybe you'll give it all up

and join a Buddhist monastery

in pursuit of nirvana

Maybe you've reached

the end of the poem

Fallen from the tree

Carried along by the wind

Autumn comes early