I Am a Poet and a Writer

Awe and Wonder
I lay alone in darkness
Listening to my favorite music
Writing their stories in my mind
Storing their screenplays behind my eyes

I feel the steel strings of my guitar
Wondering what new story I can tell with them
Can I describe the way my soul screams?

I feel the bow drag across smooth strings
Trying to contrive a method
To paint somehow
The nuance of the way my heart sings

I would love to know a mind like mine
A mind intensely in love with life itself
Unequivocally enamored by every experience
Who could talk down the stars from the sky

I want to know the stories hidden behind the
eyes
And the impact of singular events...
To learn what makes the heart shatter
And how God rebuilt their ship

Explain to me Your allegory
Take me down the rabbit hole
Show me the depths Of your soul
I want to feel your greatest fears and joys

I want to live life through the eyes of all
To experience every story
From every possible point Of view

Not that I may fix you
I’ve made that mistake
But that I may know you
And that I may be known

I also want to be understood
Because life is so often passed by so casually
As some sort of meaningless routine...
As though it continues forever

I want to share
That life is short
But that it is inexplicably wondrous
And every moment is hand crafted for you

Every twinge of your nerves
Is something to be cherished
Every perception of the senses
Is meant to be relished

Promise me one thing
By the time our paths separate
Or if they run side by side for the rest of your time
Promise me this one thing
That you would love life

Stand in awe at the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains
Laugh as the spring rains pour down on your head
Savor the lightning as it leaps from East to west
Watch as the storms slowly march ever eastward

Experience Grace with every beat of your heart
Be filled with joy with each drawn breath
Shout in ecstasy from the top of mountains
Revel in the city lights below

Inhale the soft cracking of tobacco
As it cuts the silence around you
Listen to the Earth breathe
Paint the colors of the sunset with your words

Write it down
So you do not forget
All the beauty you have perceived
Explain it if you can

Scream in agony as your heart is pierced
Wrestle with God, fight back the darkness
Feel the Earth give under you
As you fall to your knees, overwhelmed

Cry out to your God
As the waves overcome you
Reach until your arms grow weary
Feel the strain of your enduring faith

Dance under the moon, proud and white,
Dance to music that moves your soul
Sing along to music that breaks you

Take in the smell of the rain
Feel the wind as it brushes your face
Run for the sake of running
Through fields under the stars

Feel the comfort of your home
For not everyone has a home
See the warmth in a lover’s eyes
Read the words behind their lips
Learn the secrets hidden deep in the iris

Remember the wild
For to all it comes
But do but fear it
Because there is more...

But while you breathe
While the blood runs through your body
While your eyes search for meaning
Remember:

All the intricacies, the little moments,
They are intentional
They all tell an unimaginably beautiful story
If you seek it out

For every moment of every life
Was written by the creator
The most wonderful storyteller

And if man can write
With such beautiful attention to detail
And scrupulous intentionality
Weaving beautiful metaphors and allegories

How much moreso
Has the Author of all creation?

Do not forget the beauty of the mundane.
Remember to do all these things.
Look up once in a while.
Promise me this.