Silver Sprocket

Sifting through the swelling mass of clutter
I pull a cog and gear that catch my eye
Afix the pieces to the motor
Give the ignition another try
Ease the throttle to journey onward
Waist deep in debris and muck
For all the eagerness these widgets are pressed upon me
I frankly could not give a buck
I see their potential uses
But must say they're not quite right for me
If these contraptions bear utility
For you, that's fine, but let me be
Here I find a silver sprocket
Or a brass pinion under grommets buried miles deep
Amidst a million tarnished gears and levers
Only one or two I wish to keep
And simply because I don't accept your pinion
Does not mean I denounce it's value to you
It's just that if your gadget fulfills a need
Doesn't mean I need it too

Tapestry

Sunlight filters through a patchwork roof
From this room I've always felt
Like I can see the world
From the north window winding rivers and streams
That twist and travel behind the hills and the trees
I imagine what creatures may live there
Where the winding paths may lead
But I am in this tower, and I can not go that way

To the west, majestic mountains
Sun drenched evening red
On the crags that stretch on forever
Could I climb those peaks
What would I see from the top
Or on the way up?
But I may never know
For I am in this tower, and I can not go that way

To the east is the sea
Blue with no bottom
An endless receding horizon
Could I sail those seas till I found land?
Could I explore those depths until I
Discovered something new
and I try to stop imagining
Because I am in this tower, and I can not go that way

And to the south are the sands
A bright blue sky over shifting ground
Where I could be lost forever
Find the oasis, and live out my days in paradise
And perhaps some passing caravan would find me
Years after I had passed, and read the journal I had left
And I would live forever
But forever is so far away
I am in this tower, and I can not go that way

Between the windows, stand book cases
That are always full
Of books about these places where I have never been
And I may never be to
For I am in this tower, and I think that I am forced to stay

But here in this tower, I can see it all
And though I have not been, it is still here with me
And in this tower I can learn what I may never see
But is it enough to know, or must we sometimes be?
But I am still in this tower, and from here I can not say

Early one morning I awoke
So restless from my dreams
I looked upon my four windows
To see these familiar things
Unchanged as from the last day
North and West and South and East
Each different in their own way
But it could not bring me peace

A rent in the fabric
Ignorant fabric had been
The backdrop for my scenery
For all I had thought I'd seen

I placed my hands inside the tear
With some fear I pulled it wide
And for the first I beheld
What the tapestry meant to hide

A moving shifting landscape
With a life all of its own
An ocean beyond the hills
And a road dotted with homes
A lake beneath my window
Creatures moving through the trees
And birds flying through air
Flower beds alive with bees

I sat down to collect myself
For I could not believe
Years of what I thought I knew
Such an elegant deceive
A world alive beyond these walls
That I did not know to be
My body shaking, the time had come
To set my spirit free
I ran forth and cast myself into
The water just outside my door
Embracing life and all things new
I'd be held captive here no more

I struggled to the shore
Of lands where I had never been
Over my shoulder, one look back
At where it did begin
I could have left when e're I wanted
I was not ready yet
The lesson of knowing that I don't know
I shall ne'er forget

Little Scars

The tattered tales of the endless broken

So proud of our scars

From wounds we didn't earn

Our empty facade, lamenting our torments

Rattle the cage and peer through the bars

Not seeing the lessons we still haven't learned

Those who wail the loudest

Are those who have never felt pain

A scrape feels like death to a child

To the veteran deep wounds happen time and again

Those who wail the loudest

Often have the least to say

But when the silent share their whispers

The realization my change your way

So bask in youth at the altar of self

Aggrandize and bleed

Pain no one can know

Then stand and wipe the dust from the shelf

The day you no longer need

The pomp and the show