One day I asked the clouds to dance
And one replied, “Okay.”
It gave a hand of soft white rain
And lifted me away.
We spun and twirled together
To the songs of wind and sun.
Our only rhythm: happiness,
Our only purpose: fun.
I danced next with a hurricane,
A cloud made of the sea.
Throughout the dance, it’s center part
Had eyes only for me.
I danced among the lightning bolts,
With stars and endless dark,
Then I threw up the mushrooms
That I found in Central Park.
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They hosted a party
On the banks of the Styx
For the vice-presidents
And the second-round picks,
The guys who won silver,
Who went out with a flicker,
And all the cheerleaders
Who dated the kicker.
They hosted a party
For the closely defeated
To celebrate those
Who quite nearly succeeded.
I was invited
But stayed home instead
‘Cause I hadn’t stopped trying
And wasn’t yet dead.
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Here I am, a little boy.
How strongly my heart beats
Gazing on an elder swan
Praying time repeats,
For how can I grow ever older
As the world grows ever colder
Knowing my arms will never enfold her,
And facing only defeats?
Here I am, a tiny man
Seeing into the past
A lady, once in a lifetime
Traveling ever too fast.
Many a princess has been misled
Into kissing a frog, but not when it’s dead
And I, but a tadpole, just watched as she fled
And I wish my heart might beat its last
For how can you live with a soul
Guaranteed to miss half of its whole,
Being born in a land whose cruel history planned
To demand from your hand unfair toll?
For a frog may love flying,
But know only a leap, imitation.
So I, left unborn in the past
See my love through a like limitation,
With a heart never freed
From perpetual need
Knowing she’ll never read
This most pitiful seed
That someday just might grow
To a tree that might show
Just how far I would go
So that maybe she’d know
Here I am!
Here I am!
Here I go!
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Somewhen there’s a child
In the snowy winter night
Staring upward into Heaven
And onto the brightest star.
Somewhen there’s a desperate man
Who lost his latest fight
Who’ll spend the snowy evening
In the backseat of his car.
Somewhen a chilly gentleman
Will give one final cast;
A trip to somewhere lonely ends
With pulling on a rod.
Somewhen there’s a virgin
Sitting on her ass
As it carries her to Bethlehem
Where she’ll give birth to God.
Somewhen at the skating rink
He steals a midnight kiss
As the lights and drinks are flowing
And all life seems to rhyme.
Somewhen brothers stand as one
Amidst a toxic hiss
And proceed to kill themselves
One shot at a time.
Somewhen wrapping paper tears.
Somewhen candles light
Someone’s unspoken birthday wish
And others left forlorn.
Among the bullets, bottles, candles,
Kisses, stars, and night
I hope another savior
Somewhen in you is born.
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As a kid I brushed my teeth
And dreamt of hockey fame.
I knew I’d be the greatest guy
To ever play the game.
I’d pass and score and block and fight
And win for many reasons
And earn a dozen Stanley Cups
And play for forty seasons!
So, four years old, I tied my skates
And pulled on my first sweater
And grabbed a stick and shin guards
Determined to get better.
I played left wing ’til high school
Then swapped to play the right.
I shot and passed and blocked a lot
And even had a fight!
I went to play in the NHL
And was drafted thirty-second.
The success that I’d achieved
Was better than I reckoned.
For sixteen years I scored the goals
And dropped the gloves and won.
I never got a Stanley Cup
But I had lots of fun!
And now I sleep, a different man,
Amidst the moonlit hush
Without the need for childish dreams
And without teeth to brush.
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When the moon rises high
Over your sleeping body
And the night fairy carries out schemes
You cannot perceive
The world as it is
But instead you see into your dreams.
In dreams you’re a giant,
A wizard, a toaster,
A breakfast of bacon and eggs
And you fight with a demon
Who looks like your neighbor
Except for his seventy legs.
You dream of a princess
Named “Costco Potatoes”
Who sings about pudding and skin
And then you awake,
Completely forgetting
The fantasy world you were in.
Lost are the memories
Of worlds unimagined
Like socks, lyrics, birthdays, and names,
But you know you are dreaming
When someone is screaming
“Your mixtape is actually flames!”
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I dream of a Utopia
Where no one eats for free,
Where no elected shadow
Dictates how I must be me,
A place I can be lonely
When I don’t want to fight.
Utopia, I know you’re there
Smiling, out of sight.
I’m homesick for Utopia,
Where death is commonplace,
Where value lies within the heart
Instead of on the face,
A world of small discomforts
That all will know and love
And one where there’s no safety net
Or eyes from up above.
The void between Utopia
And where I’m standing now
Is only empty space to cross,
And so I take a vow
To walk beyond the cliff I see,
To fall, or else to fly.
My body may not make it;
That’s how I know it’s worth a try.
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