I danced without thinking or knowing or asking
Spoonfuls of Beatles fueling the frenzy
Summers, cities,Lucy, diamonds
I saw Wonders when Stevie sung to me
In his words but the voice of my mother
Who wrapped me and calmed me and held me
In the warmth of her arms while she borrowed
His words but their awe at such a creation
From an apple residing along with her visions
I saw fire alight in the crescendo of voices
On stages and altars and living room theaters
Words reached out and found me on landings
Compelled me and tempted me slowly
First I whispered stories while reading
Not knowing a sound was even escaping
From mothers and fathers and Hammerstein and Rodgers
And the books those men made me look for
I found shelter for years when I could not find footing
In words and ideas that I never surrendered
Tween covers of stories I carried in backpacks
Of journeys glorious and reverent and abysmal
Sewn into the fabric of many a traveler
By writers and poets commanding attention
Despite never knowing who listened
Who but me, perhaps knew their meaning
The weight of such words beat out on the keys
On Benny’s and scrolls strung together
Cross countries and boundaries times unimagined
Explorers, the greates minds of a generation
Or later while starving in cold water flats
Living just enough for a city of wonder
To rhythms and whims that would have broken
The heart of an apple in an eye
Less buoyed by Beatles, Beats, Wonders and I
To see art in the suffering and wish to collide
And grind and mash my way through the classics
I have come to the time when I must commit to
Try to create and express and learn to be
Less guarded, more trusting that others will see
A simple expression of thought and of feeling
Given through songs and stories and colors
In my life I’ve learned to be and to breathe
Through works of others more gifted than me
Now I try and I struggle and I say I’m happy
Just busy and thinking and fully connected
To art and to life and to all that may be
On the path that stretches forever behind me.
developing dad 