I am told of a song worth singing
That the curveball I ought throw life, in perfect pitch, sounds something like this:
“I’m gonna love you like no one has hurt me
I’ve known just sunshine
Wild imagination, deeply invested
Forever, we’re fine”
This, the lore, these sage storytellers I keep company with implore I believe that
A song I must sing, I am told
Original Thought Credit: “Come Rain or Come Shine;” Music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, respectively.
May I’ve eyes to see
Only our reality
And hope nevermore
We, born strong, a known miracle, believed in our birthright
Demanded what we’d earned
Respect of our hearts
When wolves came around
We’d thought them our friend — having been made from the same dust and all
When their howling happened, tables turned, teeth exposed
We’d respond not in-kind, but with kindness
Hoping hindsight would cause us to laugh
How many more times is unclear
How long before hope would recede, who can know?
And so, we ate the Apple
Believed the serpent, absorbed the poison
Until at some future point, we’d bleed out and walk whole
In the afterlife
We ask, all the more demanding and kind
Please beware our now sharp teeth
Piece of some screenplay.
Hoped it was a script, I did.
But no — it’s your life.
Put it all out there
Graffiti the walls of all the world with all the goodness you can possibly stuff into your every carbon footprint
Yes, your every breath
Send it marching onward, channeled outward
With unabashed hope
With unrealistic expectation, yet with none at all
Believe some force shall, some being must
Carry it all straightaway
To the doorstep, that heart of the other
Knock it will, but know
There may be no answer
But the walls, the world, the carbon, that doorstep
That heart
Needed your work nonetheless
So you remain the same
On look out
Why, I?
Wanting her, Liberty
Freedom from all the ways I’ve done her wrong
Or forgiveness
Her eyes, corroded-coppery
Bore one capital “L” unto mine skin
“A Mighty Woman,” I was warned
And so I came, tired
And she welcomed me
And I extinguished her, still
Before begins the countdown
A single opportunity abounds
Surely you see it
Before I seek a new galaxy
The last simulation
The door closing
Before bedtime today
Knock, You
I’ll deny the universe begging
Omnipresent ache
Your absence upon my eyes
My hope you’ll return
Cinderblock
‘neath antique doors
All painted pretty
Chipping away
Year after year
Facing Nor’easters
Hoping against hope
An honest wind
A gentle brush
Come calling home
LisaRosier.com 