No Place for the Poet

silence is not golden
noise is king
you want me to be everyone
and to do everything
never stop
don't be still
don't let the fog clear from your mind
thumb twiddlers, vagabonds,
we'll have nothing to do with your kind
put on a show
keep dancing
let us see what you can do
'cause here there's no place for the poet
no, there's no place here for you
who just sits and lets time pass
who stares at the stars
and walks barefoot in the grass
who feels the wind
upon their face
for you, the poet, there is no place
a waste of time!
a waste of space!
a waste of time!
a waste of space!
you've got to live in the lines we've traced
for you, the poet, there is no place

Perfect Moments: Young Love, Revisited

Today's moment...

One of the reasons why I love coming to visit our family down South is that it is one of the very few times my husband and I get to go out without our son. I love my son, think about him all the time...even when we are out...but, every parent understands that feeling you get when you and your spouse get to reconnect on a one-on-one level and devote our full, undivided attention to one another. It may be just me....but, at first, I always feel a bit odd--don't know exactly what to do. It is like I have to remember how to turn off the "mommy" switch and just be the Monica I was when my husband and I first got together. Though I have changed... grown up a bit...in many ways I am still that girl. Eventually, we find the groove again and for a moment...a brief, but beautiful, moment...we are the young lovers once more. More than content to be in each other's company, to simply be near each other. We hold hands and give each other those gentle touches that, at the start, would send chills down our spine....and are pleasantly surprised to find they still do.

Life tries its darndest to trip us up, keep us too busy or too complacent to remember just how incredible our spouses are. But we have to do what we can, when we can, to slow it down enough to catch our breath and breath new life into, invigorate, our relationships...to remember them as they were when love was new while, at the same time, deepen our appreciation for who our spouses have become and how the roots of our love have grown deeper with the passing of time.

Perfect Moment: The High

Went for a run today after having skipped a few days. That first mile after having skipped for a bit is always a killer. But, then after a certain point...something magical happens. You hit "the high" where you are in your own little world and there are no thoughts to distract or worry you. You feel like the best, strongest version of yourself....clarity of mind...like you could run forever and never tire. You hear, only your breath. You feel, only the ground beneath you. It is a wonderful, mind-freeing activity, which if you are someone like me and have difficulty turning off your over-thinking tendency, is a life saver. So thankful to have all my limbs and organs working properly enough for me to experience this kind of liberation. Thankful, also, for the time.

A Midnight's Dream

I had a dream
that you came for them last night
you carried them away on the wind
and left me alone on my bed
I cried, I pleaded, but my pleas fell dead on your ears
for you cannot hear
you cannot see
what you leave behind
the destruction done
the crack in the earth's crust
that leads to the depths of
our deepest fears and regret
I wish I could forget
you exist but you will not allow it
for I see you as you pass me on the street
and I see you in the distant stare found in the eyes
of the ones I love
as they look above
at the stars that light up the dark night
reminders, again, of how even the most
grand and brilliant ones
eventually lose their shine
his, hers, and mine
you come to us all
but not tonight
tonight you were a dream I could wake myself up from
and tuck away in the trunk of things better left
for the proper time
when, both, reason and rhyme
are nowhere to be found