Have a nice trip...Part I

I try to be careful
I'm not reckless
I guess I'm just
clumsy

Reduced to a writhing pile
of human suffering
by something as innocent
as ice

I fell in slow motion
thinking "this can't be good"
when I heard it
the sound that still echoes in my head

As I dropped my foot went one way
and my body another
accompanied by the sound
of celery stalks snapping

only, I'm not made of veggies
And celery doesn't hurt
(It does taste awful, though)
Bones and veggies oh my!

I squirmed and looked down
my foot decided to look elsewhere
upset with me for my misstep
and the punishment it felt

I rolled over, realigning the broken ankle
more celery snaps, tears welled
and I wondered, lying on the cold sidewalk,
is anyone going to help me?

Help did arrive
and I will survive
when the pain subsides
and the pins (and screws) are inside

Until then (Tuesday, actually)
I'll lie here bored, swollen, and hurting
watching more tv than I ever had
amazed at the amount of idiocy televised

but that's another story...

Unintended

This moment of clarity
A minute of peaceful joy
Brings it all together
How it should be

This shining quiet moment
Uninterrupted
Alone

They will say they don’t understand
They can’t comprehend the reason why

But I see it clearly now
I cannot be happier

Just leave me be
Don’t wake me to this madness
The cycle of repetition
Of every day
Don’t wake me to this madness
The circles we follow
We’ve lost our way

Lost our way
But I found mine

A lifetime of crucial decisions
Defined by mistakes and missteps
Comes to a close
With no ovation or applause
We cannot have it all
We cannot have it all

A lifetime of critical decisions
Defined by inability and ineptness
Comes to en end
With no ovation or applause
We cannot please them all
We cannot please them all

In the end
We can only please ourselves
In the end
It’s only us, alone

That we answer to


This moment of stupidity
Of ultimate surprise
Cannot be defined
By unsympathetic eyes

This brief but peaceful moment
Unrehearsed
Unprepared

They will say I don’t understand
But I can comprehend the reason why

They see it clearly now
They cannot be sadder

Just leave me be
Don’t wake me to this madness
The cycle of competition
in every waking moment
Don’t wake me to this madness
The cycles we follow
We lost our way

Lost our way
But I found mine

A lifetime of crucial decisions
Defined by mistakes and missteps
Comes to a close
With no ovation or applause
We cannot have it all
We cannot have it all

A lifetime of critical decisions
Defined by inability and ineptness
Comes to en end
With no ovation or applause
We cannot please them all
We cannot please them all

In the end
We can only please ourselves
In the end
It’s only us, alone

That we answer to

We cannot have it all
Sometimes
We have nothing more
Than what we believe

Even if it’s lies

discovery

I opened an old box
long forgotten

It's sides told a story of use
sagging, soft, no corners

I accepted it's weight carefully
setting it down on the floor

My motions stirred the coat of dust
that cloaked the mystery

I gingerly opened the first flap
then the others, delicate yet strong

Amid the clippings and photos
trifle momentos and souveniers

I found something I had been missing
A piece of my heart

What have you found today?

totem

we all whittle away at life
each shaving is a moment
an experience
another whack at fulfillment
each stroke
molding our existence
sometimes with precision
other times with reckless abandon

many dwell on the shavings,
thinking the biggest are the best
others focus on the precision
the finer cut the more realistic
while some are intent on the blade
the sharper the better

who is right
and who is wrong

when each can carve
a beautiful sculpture

all their own?