When The Fool Becomes A King

When The Fool Becomes A King






Scene 1: A Sunrise On Every Horizon

Scene 2: The Mirror of Self-Awareness

Scene 3: Storm Down The River of Life

Scene 4: Looking Up The Tallest Tree

Scene 5: Growing On The Way

Scene 6: A Wonderful Slide

Scene 7: A Father In The City

Scene 8: The Fool Becomes A King

Scene 8: Destiny Revealed

Scene 1: A Sunrise On Every Horizon (…everybody feels alright…good times…)
Before the day began there was a hum. This hum began to flow. This flow created a dream in the young boys mind before he awoke. This dream was one filled with awareness, tragedy, and finally triumph. He saw his life as one day that lasted until the end of time. He knew that before the sun could make its way to its rightful place that he had to come to an agreement with chance. This agreement was one of awareness that his life was meant for something spectacular. He was chosen to dance in the flow of life. Everything was interconnected and that the sun was woven to his spirit and his spirit was woven to every other spirit in existence. This created a blanket that allowed him to dive without fear into the unknown and conquer the challenges that lay before him. He dreamed of broken stars and diamonds and what he saw filled his stomach with a cool brisk wind. It was as if wonder had been placed in his mind for the first time. His chest filled with air, up and down, as the night air blew through his blonde hair. He held a lasting thought of self worth and this thought brought destiny to his waking eyes. The night was over.

The sky has no beginning and no end. The horizon began as a deep, midnight blue but burned quickly into brilliant pinks and oranges. Clouds swirled and looped magically in all directions blown by tattered giants standing on stilts carved out of giant redwoods. Suddenly two hands appeared from beyond the sky and reached out toward The Earth with long flowing white sleeves rustling in the wind at the wrists. These hands gathered the giants together in a huddle and gently tied a ribbon around them. Then the hands lifted them away and placed them a thousand miles from there across from a wonderful gray snow-capped mountain range.
The hands stretched back towards a young boy that lay sleeping between a wet forest and a crystal lake. They brushed the tiny boy’s hair from his eyes as he stirred but did not wake. Then in a move filled with power the two hands pointed to the East and West horizon and then to the North and South. They trembled with energy and began to shake and creatures ran from the forest. At this moment a string attached to the hands began to whip in the wind as four suns appeared from every horizon. The hands guided these suns toward the middle of the sky as they circled about like motorized kites. Only these mighty hands could control one sun much less these four solar minnows. Deer, elephants, zebras, and butterflies scurried around the boy as he finally opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. The boy wore a long robe cinched with a brown leather belt and sandals. He appeared to be around ten years old with fair skin and rosy cheeks.
The boy thought for a second about the dream that he has just had. He shuttered at the sight of the suns being corralled by what he immediately recognized as the powerful hands of destiny. He shook his head and smiled and held his hand to his ear. He heard the hum of life; he felt the flow of his own spirit. He petted the animals and jumped in the air. At this moment the four suns flown by destiny inched closer to one another at the top of the sky. They rotated around one another and began to bounce around like gigantic protons and neutrons. Then the hands of destiny released the strings controlling the four suns and the immediately became one huge burning star in the most soft, brilliant blue sky. The clouds relaxed and the giant hands disappeared into the star. The boy laughed and sat down on a rock beside the lake as flowers bloomed beside him.
Scene 2: The Mirror of Self-Awareness (love the life that you choose…)
The sunrise had brought a moment of contemplation. Sometimes silence can be the most profound sound. As he sat on the stone the boy began to consider motion. He realized that his eyes danced from the sky to the ripples in the lake beside him. He thought about the distance between himself and the Sun and the distance between himself and the animals that played around him. He noticed the stillness of his feet and played with the breeze with his hands. He felt compelled to move and put his feet underneath him on solid ground.

He stretched and began to walk purposefully away from the forest and lake. The animals scurried back into the forest and he waved goodbye and turned toward the horizon. A bead of sweat appeared, he touched it with his index finger and tasted. He saw his future in the rolling hillside in front of him and he picked up speed. He began to run. Hours rolled by and he ran and ran and became sun burnt. Every now and then he would stop and fall to his knees and breath hard. When this happened he would glance to the sun and the two mysteriously strong hands would appear and extend a finger towards the horizon. He would nod and pull himself up and get moving. Sometimes he did not know if he could continue and tears would stream behind him as he moved. During these times a larger purple velvet robe would sneak out of the clouds and loop onto his belt and pick him up and skip him along the ground and into the sky. He was determined.
He came to what seemed to be an oasis. He began to slow down and take large steps, literally struggling with every motion. About 10 yards in front of him appeared a wonderful turquoise river rolling furiously and loudly with pink granite rocks sprinkled among it with white foaming water bouncing off. As he approached the river he finally collapsed as clouds shadowed the sun. Collapsing into the sandy ground before the river he slid hands first scuffing his face into the earth. His hands landed directly onto the base of a glorious mirror that lay propped up on a large boulder next to the river. Digging his face out of the dirt he was startled at the sight of his own face in the mirror. This was the first time he had ever seen his own image. He winked and frowned at himself. He laughed because for the first time could see his own image. This brought a certain sense of vanity to his look as he flexed and danced before the mirror.
The mirror was almost twice as tall his the boy and was placed in a wonderful gold frame. He gently took it from the boulder and laid it on the ground before him. He then pulled a small leather pouch that was attached to his belt and carefully rolled four colored glass beads out of the pouch onto the mirror as he knelt beside the mirror. Each glass bead had an image painted on it…a sun, a lightening bolt, a landscape of a stone city, and a wonderful bejeweled crown. He used the mirror as a gaming plate and shoveled the glass beads around and beamed at his reflection as he played.
While he played a roll of thunder appeared as he became quite freighted by what he saw behind him in the mirror. A dark group of clouds rolled in on the horizon and the two hands once again appeared in the sky. These two hands struggled with the storm as it quickly approached the boy. The hands seemingly succumbed to the storm and allowed it to move closer and closer. The body stood shaking in panic. He grabbed his glass beads from the mirror and angrily yelled and pointed at the storm. Finally he threw each glass bead one at a time at the furious storm as it was almost upon him. Lightening crashed around him and he began to run in circles and the once beautiful river beside him began to rage. He grabbed the mirror and threw into the water. It began to float. As he glanced at the mirror in the river he saw himself frantic and scared pushed himself on the mirror to try to escape the storm. He jumped on fell to his knees as the storm punished the river and the boy forward.
Scene 3: Storm Down The River Of Life (…. with this crucifix, yeah your shaking it…)
For this boy on this day his story became the most important story ever told. He could feel the tension in his shoulders at times. He knew that he carried not only destiny but also survival. As he grabbed the mirror in the river he felt fear for the first time since becoming awake. He was worried that his identity had become cursed with vanity by what he had first seen as his own face. His smile had become the storm that he was now in the middle of.

The storm surged and rain pelted him from every direction. He held on to the sides of the mirror for dear life as the storm grew darker and louder. At times he could only see anything when light from the storm flashed the most perilous revelations of the world around him. Often times flashes would reveal shadowy creatures on each side of the river that he identified as human only by their snarling teeth. He shook and quivered in the cold rain. Just when he believed he could not hold on any longer and wind roared and the waves crashed around him he glanced down at the mirror. In the mirror he had a vision of a wonderful city full of bustling stone streets, smiling faces, and artists painting in cafes. He saw himself walking in the middle of a huge crowd. The vision brought him amazing calm and comfort, but it didn’t last long.
Pulling him out of the vision the storm began to become vicious and it started to hail pellets of ice. As the boy clinched to the mirror a crack developed as each piece of ice brought the boy one-second closer to disaster. He watched in utter terror. The cracks began to web across the mirror until finally the mirror shattered and the boy fell hands first into the rolling river leaving the storm above him on the surface. He struggled for the water’s surface as he could see the lightening still crashing above. His hands were clinched to the remnants of the gold frame of the mirror as he began to sink lower and lower in the water.
His feet pushed through a gelatinous substance as he sank. Suddenly his feet hit the bottom of the river and he could breathe for the first time in a full minute. He found himself in a curious cave protecting him from the river above. Shocked at what seemed to be safety he looked around and saw wet gray stone on all sides and heard a slight howling sound. He walked deep into the unknown of the cave and saw a tree shooting out of the ground. The tree was a rich, wet brown trunk that stretched as far as the boy could see. He did not feel comfortable in the cave and was afraid the water would rush in at any moment. He knew that he had no choice but to climb the tree although he had no idea where it would take him. He looked around once more and noticed water starting to rush in from the cave. He struggled at first as he began to climb but picked up speed. Soon the cave was underneath him and he was surrounded by solid rock on all sides with only enough room to climb, it was as if the tree was shooting straight through the earth. Every minute or so he would slip and fall back down for a yard or so. Like a miracle he began to see a faint twinkle of sunlight. The beams seemed to shoot down through the stones like lasers. Finally the space around him opened up a bit and the could see the surface. He fell off the tree as he breached the surface and fell to the ground. When he fell he hit his head on a stone and looked up the tree’s trunk that still continued up for another fifty yards. He followed the trunk with his eyes limb by limb up to a wonderful bush treetop. He began to feel woozy from the bump to the head and he had his third vision of the day.
Scene 4: Looking Up The Tallest Tree (Instrumental Before Hail To The Sky)
In each day there is at least one moment where you are given not only clarity but also choice. These moments are often disguised by illusion. What appears to be one thing can actually be another. Indeed what may seem to be the end of the story in fact becomes the beginning. Often we don’t realize that we have power when it comes to destiny. What we see as tragedy can become triumph. Our power is fueled by patience and perspective. At this moment on this day what appeared to be the top of a tree was more accurately the bottom of the sky. It all started with a bump on the head.

Still woozy the boy began to make out the most brilliant treetop he had ever laid eyes on. It was a perfect, robust shape with dark, rich green leaves and limbs that crawled through treetop like regal pathways. For a moment he remembered days when he was younger and he would climb trees without a care to the world. They were calm days. Then he thought about the storm that had battered him and pushed him to the strange underwater cave. Then for a second he glanced at his hands that were stained from the bark on his frantic flight up the tree and out of the cave. As these thoughts made there way through his mind he glanced back up at the marvelous tree trunk and his vision blurred significantly.
As he looked up the tallest tree a small black circle appeared in the middle of treetop. This circle began to grow and rotate with like a dark green and black hurricane. The boy squinted and rubbed his eyes as he had lost complete touch of whether or not he was asleep or awake. The black hurricane in the tree continued to growl and swirl until it took up the entire space of the top of the tree. Suddenly the whole space was a perfect circular black canvas that was framed in a green border the same color as the leaves. Then a universe of stars began to appear in the black circle. These stars poured out like they were running out of galactic sinking sand. They actually flew out of the vision and flooded his face. From time to time the stars would turn into bright white butterflies with electric green blood spinning through their wings. The treetop had the boy’s attention!
As soon as the stars appeared they vanished. Slowly a scene appeared on the canvas of an old man wearing a crown lying in a wonderful sleigh bed with velvet blankets all around him. The man was unmistakably a king of some sort. The boy immediately felt an incredible sense of admiration and identification in the warm, loving face of the man. The king seemed to see the boy and slowly turned his head down towards the boy and winked. The boy then noticed all of those standing around the king began to weep. The King’s breathing became heavy and labored and the wonderful gold chains on his chest moved up and down until finally stopping. Those around the king dropped to their knees and held their hands towards the king. At this moment a beautiful, regal woman walked to the bed and removed the crown from the king and pulled a white satin sheet over the king’s face. He was gone.
The boy’s vision blurred again and the treetop reappeared. The boy was completely amazed and disturbed by what he had seen.
Scene 5: Growing On The Way (…Hail To The Sky)
The boy was shocked by what he had scene. At first he felt joy at the sight of such a powerful and kind king. But the way in which the vision had ended seemed so sad. Not to mention the he felt such a grand degree of empathy with the character in the vision. What type of a life would lead one to such greatness and admiration? For a brief moment he wondered if indeed his own life could be filled with such importance. He considered all of the things that he had seen since the sunrise. It was a lot for a boy to think about. He then realized that he had seen the future. He decided that he had to meet the king that he saw in the vision. What would he say to him? He didn’t know. Maybe the king had a message for him or some special task to save the land. But he now knew his mission. He learned an important lesson. You have to trust your vision even when you can’t really see what is in front of you.

Trusting what he had made of the vision he had just witnessed. The boy began to pull himself up the huge tree trunk towards to the wonderful top of the tree. He had no idea what he would find once he reached his target. For a moment he looked back down underneath him and noticed that his shadow seemed to be one of a grown man and unbelievably this man seemed to be wearing a crown. He picked up pace and found himself at the part of the trees where the strong limbs branched into the bushy treetop. At this point he had to wire his way through the tree jumping from limb to limb. Sometimes he had to literally propel himself over to the other side of the tree. Sometime he had to reach as far as possible to get to the next limb. Amazingly it seemed as if his body actually began to stretch and grow in order for to climb further and further towards the top. He looked down at his clothes and noticed that in indeed they did seem to be smaller on him. At one point he noticed a huge nest in the tree. He took this opportunity to rest and stood on his toes to get a glance at the nest above him. Inside he saw a wonderful red cardinal feeding a group of baby birds all of different colors. He couldn’t believe his eyes, as the mother bird seemed to be feeding the babies tiny miniature apples. But on this day it seemed natural and he just smiled and kept climbing.
Finally he found the top of the tree. It was an awe-inspiring sight as he looked at the land in front of him. There were treetops as far as the eye could see and on the distant horizon he could barely make out a large hillside with a large stone city with small streams of smoking rising from within it’s gates. He glanced down at the thick forest underneath him and realized that the only way to get from where he was to the city was to some how make it from treetop to treetop. His brow furrowed and he let a frustrated sigh.
Suddenly a brisk wind knocked him off the tree limb and frantically caught it as he began to fall. He looked up in the sky and noticed the same glorious hands that he now thought of as the hands of destiny. The gently picked him up out of the tree and tied another purple robe this belt. The hands began to disappear back into sky and the robe began to sway in the wind, the boy’s feet now lifting from the tree every now and then. For some reason it felt fun to the boy and he began to laugh and put both hands around the rope, which now extended so far into the sky that he could not see the end of it. As he looked up the robe he caught a glimpse of the hands as the disappeared beyond the clouds. He than began to swing from treetop to treetop making wonderful progress towards the city.
As he swung he noticed his body continued to grow. The boy was becoming a young man. As he continued to swing towards the city he noticed that something strange was happening in the forest floor underneath him. It seems as if the space between him and the land was some sort of strange time trap. He noticed that he could actually see the seasons change as he swung from tree to tree. He saw an amazing snowstorm underneath him. Bears running between the trees and snow furiously piling up on the forest floor. He swung to the next tree and the world underneath him was blooming. Large wonderfully exotic forest flowers would bloom and deer would run through chasing one another. The tree trunks immediately became full of the most amazing bright green moss he had ever seen. Swinging on to the next group of trees he felt his bones creek and literally grow a couple of inches in a second. Underneath him he noticed an amazingly brilliant summer day with workers furiously building a home in a clearing between the trees. It became brilliant and bright as he landed on the top of the tree and the swinging stopped for a moment. Placed perfectly in this treetop as if meant for him was a golden trumpet. He was so full of life and wonder by all the things he had just seen he didn’t miss a beat and picked up the instrument and gave it a good hearty blow. But he glanced up and realized how close he was to the city and gave the magical rope a good tug. With the last tug he noticed the fall season underneath him as a slight rain fell and the leaves were dark orange and yellow. He found himself and the top of the last tree and about two hundred yards away from the city.


Scene 6: A Wonderful Slide (The last verse of Hail To The Sky)

The boy realized that he could not live forever in the Treetops. His life over the course of the day had literally flown inside a series of visions that seemed to be larger than only him but life. Without a doubt he had seen the future and was being driven to the city to meet his destiny. But as he looked down to the city that now rested right beyond his reach he began to shiver. The boy had become a young man while swinging through the trees. He was taller and stronger. He realized suddenly that his childhood was gone and growing so fast had brought doubt to his mind and heart. He began to cling to the tree. Destiny is a heavy load. He was afraid to move an inch

Before him a creaky wooden slide began to appear in sections. One section after another would manifest out of thin air. The slide twisted and creaked as magic gold dust swirled around the slide as it grew faster and faster towards the earth from the treetops. The young man threw caution to the wind and jumped on the slide. As he slid down at points he would almost fall off the end of the slide as it was barely able to “build itself” in time to keep up with his descent.
At one point the hands of destiny flew once again out of the sky parting the clouds as they appeared. The hands stopped the young man’s sliding and held him in place. As the boy was stopped about 40 feet from the ground and the entrance to the city the slide clanked to the ground. One of the two hands held the young man there and the other hand circled in the air for a moment in a conjuring motion. At this point a wonderful gleaming red heart was beating in the hand. All at once the heart left the hand and flew inside the young man’s chest. The young man was shocked and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After taking the breath the young man had so much strength and courage in his being that he shook his head up and down in a knowing way and lifted his arm and flexed his biceps. He was given a heart of courage. Still holding the young man with one hand the other hand of destiny once again made a conjuring motion. As it circled in the air suddenly a wonderful blue topaz appeared on a leather chain. Inside the topaz a word was engraved…hope. The necklace was placed around the young man’s neck. The boy looked at the necklace and saw the word hope and immediately was released and the hands of destiny disappeared.
The young man slid the rest of the way to the ground and jumped off the slide for the last five feet and landed squarely on his feet. The city gate was right before his eyes.
Scene 7: A Father In The City (…it seems the time has gone away.)
What is given is often more that what is known. The boy stood at the city gate realizing the great importance of the moment. The adventure had taken him to this point. Wonder, dreams, and visions had propelled his magical journey. But as he stood at the city gate he knew that the time to move was upon him. He had no choice but to go forward. It was given to him as his destiny but had grown into his duty.

It was nearing late afternoon as the large gate to the city was lowered slowly in front of the young man. He watched and glanced just above the city wall where the sun was just beginning to lower behind. The gate fell to the ground as dust kicked up underneath it. The boy tentatively put one foot on the gate and began to walk into the city. What he saw was not what he expected at all.
All around the city was poverty. Men lit fires in stone barrels beside buildings warming their hands. Children carried wooden carts with half rotten apples for sale. As he made his way deeper into the city he noticed something strange. Around every corner amongst the cold and hungry people would be a musician. One musician was playing a guitar, another a flute, even a young boy playing a trumpet on a balcony. Once he even saw one of the children who were selling the apples in the street dig a coin out of his earnings and give to one of the musicians. This was a humbling site.
Deeper into the city he noticed the masses seeming to be streaming out of the streets and towards a city square that he could see about a half a mile up the cobblestone street he was walking down. Suddenly all the people were gone and he noticed a regal building which appeared to be a palace of some sort. He was drawn to the building and stepped up to its door and noticed a wooden that read simply…”Home Of Our Beloved King.” He opened the door and saw a marvelous staircase. His heart began to beat faster and faster. He ran up the stairs as he remembered the vision he had seen earlier of the king dying. He ran faster two steps at a time and reached the top of the stairs and saw a room lit with many candles and could hear crying and commotion. As he entered at the room he fell to his knees and collapsed. He was too late. Repeating the scene from his vision the king took his last breath and his crown was removed.
The mourners around the King’s bed were not startled at the young mans presence. They came to him and pulled him to his feet as they all wept together. As the young man looked around the room he noticed the same mirror that had earlier saved him during the storm on the river. As he looked into the mirror he had one last vision. He saw himself as a young boy with the King. The King was his father and they stood with each other as an artist painted a portrait of father and son. Suddenly the vision vanished and he once again fell to his knees, as he now knew that not only had the city lost a King but also he had lost a father.
Scene 8: The Fool Becomes A King (Step right up and sound off again.)
Despair brought him to the brink of majesty. He made his way outside of the room where his father, the king, had died. He stepped sobbing onto a balcony that overlooked the city square where the whole city had gathered waiting word of the King’s state. The crowd did not see the young man come out onto the balcony. They were focused on a large wooden stage that was placed on the opposite end of the courtyard. A jester climbed from the crowd onto the stage. The young man breathed heavy and wiped tears from his eyes as he took the moment in as best he could.

As he stood on the balcony in despair overlooking the crowd he could not believe his eyes. A jester with long awkward legs in a purple suit complete with jester’s hat climbed onto the stage. The jester began to jump like a loon manically around the stage yelling loudly. He ran from each of the stage back and forth and finally jumped on top of a wooden pedestal. He gave a speech of some sort that caused the crowd to become engorged with emotion. The boy really couldn’t tell if it was anger, sadness, or glee. After the speech the jester points towards him on the balcony and the city’s flag immediately unravels underneath the balcony and crowd cheered.
At this moment the boy turned around to have one last look at his father lying on the bed. Slowly the king’s spirit rose out of the body of the dead king and floated over to the table where they had placed his crown. The spirit picked up the crown and flew to the boy on the balcony. The crowd became silent. The Ghost placed the crown on his head and held the young mans hands high above his head. The crowd erupted again.
Scene 9: Destiny Revealed (…16 ways to blow your mind.)
He no longer saw a division between vision and reality

After his father’s spirit had crowned him king the hands of destiny once again appeared. This time they came quickly out of the sky with undeniable vigor. They picked up the new king and carried him down to the stage as the jester jumped off to make way for the new king. The crowd continued to clap and cheer. The sun sat on top of the City wall as it was beginning to make its final descent at sundown. As the new king stood on the stage filled with self worth and love for himself, the people of the city, and his father. He noticed the hands of fate waiting in the sky as if they wanted a command from the king. Suddenly he knew that he was in control of the magical hands and indeed his own destiny not to mention the destiny of the land and his people. As he raised his own hand to talk to the crowd he saw the magical hands of destiny move in the sky. He made a loop with his own hand and they copied his movement. The hands of destiny were actually a wonderful, celestial marionette. He then began to fly the hands through the clouds and all around the sky sometimes scooping people out of the crowd and taking them for a ride.
He realized that as his first act of king he would need the help of these magical hands. He commanded them to grab the sun. It took all of their strength as they shook and the crowd watched in awe. They grabbed the Sun and pulled it high into the sky and sundown had given way to the most glorious bright sunrise. It was the brightest light ever experienced by the people and the whole world seemed to glisten.
At this moment all the musicians of the town gathered on the stage and began to play and sing and the king was lifted down into the masses. The song continued for several minutes. He shook hands and laughed and cried. The jester, now on stilts, walked through the crowd with the king. The song reached a furious pace and the town cheered so loud the sun began to shake. Everyone looked up at the star and noticed it seemed to be bursting with energy. As the sun shook it began to split down the middle. The one sun became two, and then split again, into four suns. These four suns circled and bounced off one another until the razored off four separate ways toward each horizon. They were gone and the night set in as fireworks lit the sky.

Mr. Jobs and the Dots

Mr. Jobs and The Dots

He walked up to the ledge like a middle aged man…
Licked his finger and pushed it into the wind.
The wind mercifully painted him majestic by moving the wind through his aging hair.
As he froze and romanticized his own abilities
And smiled the most crooked wry smile of his life.

Reclamation came in an instance
When he reversed his Airwalks and moved from the edge.
This was not the sinister approach of old age.
What awaited him was not an unfortunate diagnosis.
As he re-occupied his face turning the key of a maroon sedan.

His heart inflated and beating with cocky resolve.
His pulse quickened and indifference and overconfidence set in.
He returned to his former stride.
Humans don’t have what it takes inside.

My Trumpet In The Fall

A spider slid down a leaf with the grace of an angel.
Life was crisp.
Love was a story written by the pen of a rippling lake.
The joy when the perfect day fades.


Like taking pictures of the moon,
Or unfolding the perfect bloom.
She whispered in my ear…
“In Heaven they play my favorite song.”

I’m suspended in your design.
You are my atmosphere.
You are my trumpet in the fall.

When my bear wakes up for spring (It likes to have water)

I’m ok with many things.
I’m ok with the way every night on Vancouver Island feels like the perfect Halloween.
I’m ok with reflections of the Rocky Mountains in glacier waters.
I’m ok with the wait for an agua fresca at the best Taqueria in town.
I’m ok with people talking too fast when they are exited.
I’m ok with people driving slow on Sundays.
I’m ok with glistening monuments on Memorial Day.
I’m ok that bears wake up in the spring.
It’s ok, they just want some water.

Proust’s Madeleine (Encounter with a Beekeeper)

What youthful sin left your eyes so hollow?
Was their venom in the sunshine of summers gone?
In a world so charmed by fresh, wet fruits…
why must you insist upon harmony’s decay?
Like the dingiest and most oppressive haze of an angry dust-
you descend.
There is no peace so near a hive.
I pray for the day you swarm away.

Dream Redux

Dreams are wars.
The bastards are worry soaked and plagiarized.
Last night, I wrote a book about the Great War.
I must be talented; I scribbled it out in four hours…
under the influence of wretched allergies and antihistamines.
It was full of maps, but not one crumb of a plot.
I looked across the huge oak desk at the publisher and begged for another chance.
My passion isn’t merely the ripped out pages of a forgotten encyclopedia.
I am more than just the stapled together narratives of the past.
I have words for the soldier’s mouths.
I have friction for the truth and lies.
“Please, master of my dreams, give me one more chance at life.”
He raised his finger like a gavel and spoke without haste and full of judgement.
His face haunted me like a purple coated business goon in the scariest of graphic novels.
He did not have kind words.
With that…I woke up and wrote.

Looking Off A Mountain In The Future

The man gazed off his mountain he always dreamed of having.

He breathed deep and moved his heart in motion.

Moments were no longer distinguishable between youth and middle age.

Happiness often came in waves like messages.

Messages came from priests, poets, and momentary unplanned lapses into silences.

A smile exerts itself into the world.

Sometimes they came at the expense of much effort.

On a good day…sometimes in the spring,

Smiles came in (to him) with the sun rolling through the blinds of his city home.

He spent these moments praying in all directions, directionless.

Let the moments, past and present, fill my soul with life.

Take the dreams of rushing and rolling water and rise.

Rise to ride once again.

Beginning to exhale, thoughts were

So full of life they bloated with the color of blood.

Ten moments time ten thousand.

…Bicycle spokes flickering in the air of a descending child on a small town’s hill.

…The flushing of and expanding of capillaries of an adolescent’s face

…Moments after a kiss that tasted like a snow cone.

…The squeezing head songs of liquor drenched collegiate mornings.

…The serendipity and force fields created by true friendships.

…Uncovering love after greyhound rides and unbridled loss.

…Highways becoming dividing lines between the loves and the loves not.

…Lower than low in a bed full of needles and mistakes.

…The uneasiness of moments of indiscretion.

…The burying and unearthing of history.

Life is a list.

Keep marking the remarkable.

Bless the faith of the faithful.

Love the lovely ones.

Fear the fearful ones.

My list is long.