POETRY

Writing to me means many things, but one of the most poignant benefits of putting pen to paper in my own life has been the inescapable honesty that comes from the act. A poem can be about anything, but it cannot come from nowhere. One's own words are a reflection of the internal, a gaze into the mirror, a plunge into the known.

LUCID LOVE

April 9th, 2018

wake up!

it’s time to look yourself

earnestly in the eye

& be the man in the mirror

you were destined to be

there’s diamonds in nonsense

but if you don’t bust your heart

wide open you’re going to be

the only one not laughing

at the cruel joke you pulled on yourself

you’ve got friends & you’ve got

to honor them, be honest & get

your intentions straight

cuz there ain’t enough time

to go on wearing a disguise

you’re so full of love

but when it all overflows

you’ve got to remember

to give some back to yourself

your body has miraculously

tolerated you but you’ve got

to be proud enough to swallow

your pride & not substitute it

for sideways substances

the plain beautiful truth

can seem so elusive

when you’re looking all over

for it but forgot that it’s actually

been inside you the whole time

your family & the cosmic mystery

brought you blissfully into this world

so honor that too, don’t run around

like a head with its chicken cut off

collecting all the miracles like they’re

some treasured trinkets, if you think

about it clearly enough, sincerely enough,

you’ll realize that you & i & all the infinite

divine in-betweens are the treasures,

that your pleasures only really blossom

when you share them, so bee the pollen

it’s terrifying & terribly necessary

to leave love behind, but you never

leave it & it never leaves you, it just

changes shape, & if you don’t shape up

& ship out when the time is right

all you’re doing is creating a mirage

of love that is love, but if the love

doesn’t lift you up & liberate you

like it’s intended to then all your splendid

beauty gets trapped inside & comes

tumbling out as toxic & destructive lies

create! don’t hesitate.

take your time but keep your eyes

on the prize that’s inside you, you’ve got

so much to offer so be a little more tactful

about practical ways to offer back

to the world that which has graciously

granted you the miracle of life

each breath is a delicious privilege

brought to you by the infinite wisdom

of the universe so don’t take what’s

been granted you for granted, it came

millions of lights years of space & time

to find you so honor the design, be a part

of it, be a magic i & you’ll find that me & you

& all the its are all we need

we all already know the answers, we all

have hearts that pump the exact same

palpitations of love & fear & hope & hurt

& guilt & integrity, take accountability

for your ability to be alive, our paths

are all woven together as a quilt of infinite

differences, but if you trace back all the threads

of colors & fabric you’ll find the source

of it all, & that source is love

love is an oasis in a desert of pain, love rains

down from the mountains & flows down rivers

& always ends up where it started from, the ocean

of our sincerest emotion: love

when it flows right it goes back up

into the sky & then rains back down

on you as a quenching critical reminder

that it’s all a cycle, it’s all a circle, love

is a circle of water in all our mothers

& fathers, love is a wish in a wellspring

of hope that’s not always easy to find

but it’s always there, inside you & me

there are no exceptions

to the communal love inside us

all, only circumstances that as a result

of love being lost & disregarded

haven’t been passed down properly

don’t lose your love

because if you do, you’ll be

a damned river in the way

of the cycle, if you lose your own love

you’ll deny it from others & our sisters

& brothers will be shamefully estranged

don’t lose your love

because it’s absurdly unfair

to have been given that gift & not

give it back, don’t lose your love

because your heart will attack

you & you’ll confuse pain with learning

heartbreak is happiness

that happenstance has offered you

so you can be lifted up

ever higher than before, so you

can evaporate your obstacles & float

back up into the sky & return

as rain to the place we all

belong, with each other

we all belong to each other

so let’s accept this blessing & not

mess it all up, let’s not lose touch

with the love inside us all

because enough is enough, love

is enough & it’s the best & only

option we’ve got

don’t lose your love & i

won’t lose mine & we

can all be the perfect

circle of water

we were meant to be

WHEN

may 4th, 2018

when the last frog croaks

how will you feel?

when silence sans a silver lining

settles in, where will you heart reside?

when your true reflection

looks you dead in the eye, what remains?

is there a longing for other things

or a sigh of relief for all that has been?

when mistakes or misfortunes

pile up at your doorstep

do you sweep them under the rug

or embrace them fully, caress them 

gently & mold fresh beauty from their clay?

when your hardship hits an iceberg

do you curse & cry & blame

or give thanks to the currents

that brought you along the way?

when it turns out your turn has come

do you turn & run or remain?

when the smoke settles & embers linger

do you blow on the fire or cozy up nearer?

when the last fat lady has sung

is your spirit heavy or asoar like a dove?

when at last your final spring has sprung

do you bloom like moonflowers

or say wait, hold on, what have i done?

GRANDFATHER CLOCK:  

an ode to my grandpa, humanity & the planet on his 100th birthday

APRIL 21ST, 2018

grandpa, thank you.

& congratulations!

the infinite miraculous legacy of love

that came before you brought you into existence.

you were given the gift of love & you didn’t

squander it. you accepted the love

offered to you with open arms & your heart

multiplied it & gave it back to the world

& that’s it. that’s all there is to it, doc, you did it!

you got god’s simple message: receive love,

give love, be love. that’s it! again, congratulations!

primordial stardust & the divine mysteries that be

combined over eons of time to create this earth.

oceans sprouted from dry ground & mountains

rose to meet the stars, plants gave birth to animals

& along came man out of the ooze, along came woman

to complete man & vis-a-versa, etcetera, every combination,

so we would not lose each other, so we could create,

so we could procreate, so we could love

the design is so beautiful & simple but time has proven

that this love we’re all given isn’t always honored, as time

carries us onward we realize we’re all on board this boat together

& while most of us get it & give it – the love that is – some of us

aren’t so lucky to have received it, somebody broke the sacred

pact of eternal love & there’s been a glitch in the system ever since

this perfect love that’s meant to be passed down

from generation to generation forever is at battle

with the glitch, & that’s why you’re so important,

grandpa, because you did it, you were passed the torch

of love & you passed it on, that beautiful warm light

that is love, you shared it with your parents & their

parents, you shared it with grandma & she shared it

with you, you shared enough love to create two

beautiful daughters who learned love from you

the love that created us all, you honored it, you were lucky

to receive it but you got it, you gave it, your daughters

were offered your love & their love cups were filled up

& the beautiful liquid love overflowed with joy & created

my cousins, my sisters … the love that formed from stardust

found you & that exact same love created me. your love

created me. there is no thank you sincere enough in the universe

to express my gratitude for this gift of life, this gift of love,

but i’ll say it anyway, thank you! i received your love. i am love.

we are love, all of us. all of us have been blessed with the gift of love

but that love is sacred, & it comes with a contract: if you get it

you must give it. so listen here, grandpa, lend me your good ear:

I WILL NOT BREAK THE SACRED PACT OF LOVE.

i’ve been given more love than anyone in the history

of this planet & that’s why i am who i am, that’s why

i write poetry & travel & play music & talk to the homeless,

that’s why it may seem like i’m lost, because i’m disoriented

from all the love that has graced me, i’m so flooded with love

that it takes everything i have to give all the love i’ve been given back

because i’ve signed the contract with blood, i know

the love rules & i know humanity depends on it, on all of us,

the very planet we dance upon depends on us honoring love

so i’m just doing my part, i’m just doing what so many of us

do naturally: love. & life & love can be confounding, the glitch

is compounding over time, which is why i feel such urgency

we must receive love & give love to everyone, to every person

& plant & animal & spirit on this planet, we must pass the love torch

to strangers, to former lovers, to those who are caught up in the glitch

& have forgotten what love is, we must bridge that gap with love,

we must remind our so-called enemies that we are actually love

we must empty ourselves of love to those who never

knew it, to those who had it stolen from them, to those

who were robbed of god’s greatest gift because that initial

glitch in the love system was stitched into their childhood,

a cruel fabric that’s hard to shed, but not impossible

i know this, this is undeniable truth. love can lift up

the suicidal into a tidal wave of love, love can blur

borders, erase races & dissolve politics. the bottomless

power of love can end wars, it truly can, if we just

let it, if we can all muster enough strength

to win this tug-of-war against the glitch

so back to you, grandpa, back to being blessed

to share this poem with you on your 100th birthday.

you are a miracle of love & so am i. so thank you,

thank you because i know that if every family

were so full of love as ours i wouldn’t have to write

this poem because we’d all be on board the love

boat together, thank you because your life is a prime

example of the magic of love, thank you on behalf

of everyone who didn’t get a chance to thank you

because they grew and bloomed from your love too

thank you from the bottom of my bottomless heart

because i love you & you love me & we’re part

of how it’s supposed to be, thank you for passing

along all of the love i’ll ever need to share

as much of it as i possibly can on this journey