the words that could be there
TRANSCRIPT
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The Words That Could Be There
(Pictures I took on various trips I have made through time itself
Although at the time, I had no words for what I saw, though
What I saw had words for me in a language I barely knew.)
Sometimes in life, a lone flower is all it takes
To splash cheer in our dusty throats, to point
To that which is magnificent, to recognizeThat sometimes you don’t want to be picked.
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The deep cuts we feel
May hurt, but see the beauty
From time and weather.
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Even those in the shadows
Have a purpose, providing support,Contrast, depth
For those in the warm castled spotlight.
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Who watches who?
Gripping the bars of life
For all we have, In order
(and order is crucial)
To steady ourselves.
That’s fine,
But make sure
You look around.Someone’s watching
And there are thingsThat demand to be seen.
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A spindle, dead and climbling towards heaven
At the edge of its comfort zone.What’s its story?
Is there rhyme and reason to two of them?
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Being blue is for the birds. Even the bald eagle.
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Gnarled nerves uprooted
Tangled pattern of growth exposing
The past that once was, exposing
What is no longer here.Or is the essential tree remaining?
Does it not still provide life?
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The ages creep to the inlet
Their protracted journey not seen by the human eye
Until it lurches forward, in a blink,Unable to stand, much less walk, only float
Like a dead man, silent in the still waters.
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Out of nothing,Something.
Which is nothing if not
Anything That mind imagines it to be.
Which is, at least,One thing,
But not, no, not The only thing.
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Don’t tell me the heavens won’t descend on us
In some coming apocalypse,
Closing the viewTo all but the angels
Who ride dark cloudsTo perch where we no longer live,
Where we no longer
Raise toasts to what we did, eat,Or mate.
White acne’d mountains only hide the approach
That is whispered on the air Currents full of reproach
To the gray beauty brought alongAs a giant’s madness.
Yeat’s slouch is caught between the saddle
Of stones that no longer sleepBut cradle the future
We sometimes fear.
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We nestle against the mountains
Which stand against time and weather
Testimony given to rising days and sinking nights.
The eternal golden sunset of a summer dayRides the whispered cloud wisps in front
Of the sheltering peak.
It is a divine touch
In a divine landWhere I have been given
The midnight sun
That always sings
In my soul.
I should climb a treeThe better to watch and sing.
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The rush to the sea
Smoothes all barriers along,
Finds happy watchers
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(Shhhh! King Kong lives here.)
As we go forward,
Do we approach the end of it all?
Or does the endWith soft padded feet, hidden movement and whispered threat,
Come for us?
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Light fingers into the crevices
Small and largeIce and rock
Blue and green.
Frozen and liquidWhere shadows hide in fragile time.
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Laying around just rocks! But nowhere can we go, it seems, without eyes watching.
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The white ribbon slashes
Against the grain of graniteTrees manage to stay out of harm.
Watching
The spill slipping over the topSlowly fanning to a wider base.
“X” marks the spotThe very center
The treasure heart
Of it all.
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Thankfully we have had guardians
To watch over us
.
In the middle of it all, even today
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Progress tilts.
We go forward
But sometimesTo the side
Just a little
The latticed steelThe nerves Required
It’s all required
To get to thereFrom
here.
Getting there
Is important.
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Though we might despair
At what tumbles over in life
Through the mist of tearsWe might see a rainbow
Given enough time
And sun.
The end of one plateau
Is the beginning of another roving river.
SoGo where those in wooden barrels
Have never feared
To tumble.
Just cross your fingers for luck
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The end is often the best part
The last seen evidence of the beast
Returning to its depths,Our minds thrilling to see the place where
“ Here there be monsters”
AlthoughWho has turned out to be
The monsters
When all is said and done?
Never mind that.
Just snap the picture
For god’s sake!
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