for Wake Me Up When September Ends Contest
Sponsor: Daniel Henry Rogers
They’re in conversation
with a crisp breeze as it sings
about the summer lost.
The proud sun colors skies gold
but shadows grow long.
not much is said
but they know
something’s changing
Once young, they cling
onto branches but know
one day they will take
their last breath and fall.
a song
about passing days
lingers in the air
Frantic calls of grackles
stir the air as they land
on branches before a swirl
of them cloud the sky.
the cacophony
interrupts
tranquility of the day
the passing sun whispers
and at dusk skies bleed
leaves surrender to time
“Why are you here today?”
“I know I shouldn’t be.”
“No. Here at therapy.”
“Oh, then I guess for when I think like that.”
For when my brain switches to the worst possible situation.
For when I force myself into a hole that I’ve never fit into.
For when my least favorite question interrupts my impending obsessions.
‘Are you okay?’
No.
I’m not.
But they would never want to hear that.
So you lie.
And lie.
And lie.
Till your tongue gets twisted with sickening words.
Words that you promised would never see the light of day.
So, sure.
I’m okay.”
“Have you ever noticed that you overthink?”
“Never.”
“Why are you here today?”
“I know I shouldn’t be.”
“No. Here at therapy.”
“Oh, then I guess for when I think like that.”
For when my brain switches to the worst possible situation.
For when I force myself into a hole that I’ve never fit into.
For when my least favorite question interrupts my impending obsessions.
‘Are you okay?’
No.
I’m not.
But they would never want to hear that.
So you lie.
And lie.
And lie.
Till your tongue gets twisted with sickening words.
Words that you promised would never see the light of day.
So, sure.
I’m okay.”
“Have you ever noticed that you overthink?”
“Never.”
We taught the silence to wear our name,
called it tomorrow, a fragile frame,
hung every heartbeat on a melting seam.
hours sag like sleep from a wounded tree,
minutes forget who they’re meant to be,
the past hums heavy in the ribs of me.
then two lost clocks began to align,
your breath finding time inside of mine,
as if our souls had rehearsed this climb.
I followed my shadow through folded air,
measured my worth by the depth of care,
until your presence answered the prayer.
meaning arrives when the chase stands still,
when love interrupts the force of will,
and yet here we are.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked through the woods this morning, nary an animal crossing my path. The only sounds I heard were birds chirping, small animals collecting nuts, and my feet as they gently landed on autumn’s leaves and the decaying pine straws.
I rounded the bend and paused just in time to witness the sun’s gradual ascent into the enormous Texas sky. I closed my eyes and stood perfectly still letting the silence envelop me. In the distance I heard them, geese honking. The blue air above me was filled with a skein of wild geese flying in V-formation.
They glided together effortlessly through the sky, homeward bound for the season. I stood in awe watching them noticing the geese had a pride about them, as if they were aware of their own magnificence.
fall equinox brings
skein of geese flying above
interrupts silence
wild geese, sunlit sky
V-formation heading south
seasonal journey
boldly unimpressed
by opinions, fears, and doubts
geese trust the Knowing
a flower's momentum
never interrupts the observer
both exist in prolonged beauty
only the distracted and distant
note disruption of decay
testimony that disrupts
proceedings it interrupts
in a courtroom liable to erupt…
from a recess abrupt
order is anon plucked
Your bedroom with a garden view
Includes a view to the field
Here we are, looking through
Leaning on the window sill
It’s calm, the early dusk hour
My favorite time has come
I sense the smell of every flower
I breathe the tune you hum
Down in the sitting room
Comes Pippa to lick your face
She’s jealous, you say, and the fume
Of your blackberry vape fills the space
Then our images blur, the sound worsens,
Interrupts, and the call fails
We're too good for the real persons
Just two characters of a tale
It’s over now, all of a sudden
I can’t bother less, you’d say
I’m promised another garden
See you sometime, one day
Me and the wall
Like an imaginary friend when we were a child.
My thoughts bounce off the wall and then get filed.
Mrs. Beasley, Shilo, and Winnie the Pooh.
No matter what you said, they believed it was true.
My wall let's me figure it out with me and God.
And it's funny, but I never end up feeling odd.
And as I sit here amidst all the reflections.
Somewhere inside I'm ok with the recollections.
Having thoughts that no one else interrupts.
Allows time and space where nothing corrupts.
And in the process of sorting through the muck.
Insight and common sense prevails with any luck.
Introverts and extroverts and everything between.
Hopefully, you mean what you say, when you say what you mean.
Cause when this world get's it's way and in your head.
Sometimes, come what may, it's their thoughts instead.
So, hello old friend, it's you and me till the end.
We've travelled many avenues and around the bend.
Somehow I'm ok with the way things turned out.
Reflective perspective has removed most of the doubt.
Oh... you just don't get it, I really don't care,
Your not my type at all, even down to your underwear,
Why is it now that I see this, and then you reach out,
It's not that I don't care in friendship, but a relationship I doubt,
I finally feel free from the bondage I felt from long ago,
The picture you painted of who I thought you were,
The idea of you finally let go,
The irony in this can only be God, I ask him what in the world is going on,
I really thought that this was all he wanted to show me, but obviously I'm wrong,
What do they call it when your heart is just too tired to know more?,
And then God interrupts your train of thought, and says wait there's more in store,
And then of course you groan to God, and plead you're too tired to see,
Haven't I already been through enough, he once tried to suck the life out of me,
As I feel my eyelids get heavy, and all I want to do is just sleep,
He wakes me up and says surprise I'm here.. and I think it's just like you to do this to me,
So I'm going to give you my sleep drunken self in my overwhelmed and overworked state,
And maybe then you'll think I'm weird once again, but with my luck you'll probably stay.
Tell me something good my dear
Anything you’d like to share
I can’t see if you are here
By the desk, or maybe there
In the middle of the room
On the sofa with remote
Let me hope to see you soon
Just before we go afloat
Through the seas of vast and hollow
To the future of our youth
Where we live like no tomorrow
Interrupts the days of truth
Endless days of wine and roses
Loving, till the stars above
Fall unnoticed, and you know this
Fairly well, my dearest love.
Can you even imagine the pain,
That greets me in the morn',
The pain that trickles down my face,
The pain that makes my soul worn?
The pain that interrupts my sleep,
The pain that dulls my eyes,
Can you even imagine the pain,
The pain you don't recognize?
Can you even imagine the pain,
That breaks my heart in two,
The pain that forces my head down,
The pain that hides from view?
The pain that steals my smile,
The pain that blocks my throat,
Can you even imagine the pain,
The pain that makes me float?
Think On This
Miracle Man
10/20/2024
Where did our face to face contact go,
seems no one has time, we’re all to busy.
Technology is subtly stealing our lives,
every new gadget puts most in a tizzy.
Gone are the days of just visit and chat,
and texting interrupts most conversation.
I find this to be annoying to the speaker,
but it happens to me with no cessation.
Phones are now for other than talking,
books and print life are joining the past.
My car has gadgets I’ll never learn to use,
makes me realize my time also has passed.
Can there be
And can there be
Some place where
Sin slides not
Into my thoughts
And interrupts
The good that God has sent.
Some comfortable path
Of undemanding toil,
No steeps, no heaps,
To navigate at night
But easiness
From first to last?
I tried this way and that
But glory not as promised,
Nor comfort as was said
But troubles,
Disappointments,
Anxious thoughts and fears,
Excluded hopes of peace.
But then -
But then -
I saw the Cross,
The empty Cross.
I thought at once of Jesus,
The peace he came to bring
Through death and resurrection.
Hallelujah!
He’s my living King!
When I’m gliding blithely through my days,
Life, with its blunt, disconcerting ways,
interrupts my peace with sobering realities
that heighten my awareness and bring me to my knees
uttering praise for being spared or, for others, urgent pleas.
The fifteen obituaries in the paper one day last week
were all for people younger than I. Naturally, I seek
to enjoy a long life. I presume those people wanted that too!
I pray thoughts of mortality won’t leave me with a morbid view
but will motivate me to pursue goals, both old and new.
When news reports reveal the true state of the world,
it never fails: New hair-raising terrors are unfurled.
I shiver just thinking of future generations~~
grandkids, their kids, and theirs . . . and the deliberations
they must maneuver through to maintain solid foundations.
Sobering realities will continue to assault my peace of mind,
but due to a degree of late-in-life wisdom, I’m inclined
to prayerfully do what I can to fix or eliminate a situation,
then turn it over to the One in the highest station.
The Lord has power over every complication.
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