assumptions made
plans set
though no one
told you
the day arrives
car all packed
you ride off
not knowing
where you’re going
the road stretches on
for years
stopping occasionally
in one town or the other
you sometimes wonder
how you will know
when you’ve arrived
(D. James)
a man lay in bed
last days
he knows
dying from the struggle
to live
the nurse
does what she can
to make it easier
through the morphine
induced fog
a moment of clarity
he says
“I never learned
to ride a bike”
too late now
she knows
too late now
(D James)
stuck
in a one horse town
that is the dark matter
of the mind
worrying the night
like an old string of beads
cold wind
blows darkness around
til the dawn
which
brings no warmth
or understanding
just another prelude
to another night
and on and on
until the ride stops
(D James)
long shadows
rush around
in straight lines
bundled against
the early morning sun
that gives off light
but little heat
another day
for the many lucky enough
to have made it through the night
yet who among us
thinks of the new day that way
before the first cup of coffee
if at all
(D. James)
a state of being
closed off to other
possible outcomes
a place of right
might
fight
where trouble lurks
and there is no soul
a safe place
where one finds
simplistic comfort
only in its opposite
is there any hope
or chance of stumbling
upon the world as it is
and not as we want it to be
(D James)
I went
as far as the road
would take me
then continued on
I followed
the wind
as far as it did blow
then went beyond
I walked
to the peak
of the mountain
then reached up and touched the sky
I dropped
to the bottom
of the ocean
then dug down to the center of the earth
seen the sights
rode the rides
had loves
and losses
watched the line between
the beginnings and endings
blur
then bend
into a circle
and I can either
go round with it
or waste time
fighting against the flow
(D James)
staying up late
to watch the moon
crawl across the sky
the darkness
filled with possibilities
that the sun washes away in the morning
makes me want to hold on to this moment
embracing the night and never letting go
I don’t want
to go to sleep
tonight
but there’s no way
to hold back the sun
or stop the coming day
so for now
I’ll rest a few hours
then wrestle with the demons
in the daylight
until the sun goes down
and another moon comes up
when the possibilities arise
in the shadows of night
(D. James)
