Autumn wraps her arms around the city, hugging every corner of every street
What little light of dusk remains lights up one window into the next
Two strangers dance in a living room while a family has just sat down to eat
How special these ordinary moments appear in a life so complex
Walking along cobblestone, laughter pouring out of the nearest cafe
Pondering who we'd all be if not for the people who surround you
This thought casually strolling into my brain, a normal occurrence on a Tuesday
I'd ask a passerby how their day is going but they'd only say good because any true answer feels taboo
I do wonder, do they realize the impending importance of the day?
Or are they all waiting on the next life-altering, cataclysmic event -
The quilt of life is sewn from the flowers plucked of your daily bouquet
Plan so long for who you'll one day become to miss out on who you are in the extraordinary present
Guided by moonlight, a lantern in hand while I search wildly for myself
Could have sworn I just had coffee with her this morning
I've looked through my dresser drawers, in the attic, and on all of the shelves -
But it seems I've eagerly changed a few times since then, my old self already gone without warning
They told me the leaves here don't change yet color falls all around me
It appears they have stolen their vibrant hues from my summer skin
But if nature is a thief and I am the victim, I'd welcome this intruder in for a cup of tea
Happily turn my bronze into olive, expose where the storm has made my bones thin
I don't wait for repair to knock at my door, I make the appointments on my own
Ditching patterns for spontaneity, each day a voyage to make as I will
Each simplistic moment a cosmic interference, ones I'll smile on when I'm grown
Sacrifice a safety net for the spur-of-the moment, a constant glass I must ferociously fill
Could you truly enjoy a slow cup of coffee at eighty eight
If you don't stay up to watch this reckless sunrise with me at twenty four
What is laughter worth when your hair is graying towards your fate
If I don't share this laughter with another as I look upon the sky, back to the floor
How can you one day share explorative stories to the young
If you tread cautiously now
How could they stare in awe, believing the advice from your tongue
If fear of the unknown still raises your brow
It's a fleeting moment that begs to be heard
Pulling at the bottom of your coat until you look down and give in
Emotion's raging fire makes logic so blurred
Leaving it's third degree burn as scars to your skin
Why is love felt so clearly just when it begins to fade
Feeling its' presence most deeply when you watch it slip away
Why do we yearn for what we can't have, greener grasses with which we'd like to trade
Outbidding the auction until you win only to decide it isn't quite as pretty up close as it was on the display
I weep for the souls who fall into that chasm
If tears could more often fall from my eyes
I bundle against their coldness, a brisk I cannot fathom
Then link arm in arm for the walk home with peace and content, my two truest allies
I hear voices in the distance, a universe urging me to explore
Can't you hear them calling you too?
No one holds my hand as I run out the door
Only the noise of the shackles of independence guide me through
I made a reservation for a table of people I've never met
Yet I know a seat is there waiting for my soul only
Tie up your laces, grab the keys, make sure to stub out the cigarette -
For today is the youngest I'll ever be and the oldest I've ever been, I don't plan to spend it lonely
I've been trying to head home for decades
But I can never remember the address
Standing on this strange corner of life, memories threaten to fade
Yet it's quite the empty threat, I must confess
Friends pass by in a park, I overhear them say that grief is only love's souvenir
A receipt of proof, if you will
That it's silhouette once roamed your halls, it was indeed here
A reminder that at times, time can in fact, stand still
These daily moments of life become the tapestries of my story
Their art painted from the brush of my decisions
An errand ran, a meeting concluded, each thing I do the tale they'll spin of my glory
Unlike the pen writing these words now, humanity is not afforded revisions
I want to smile in old age at the grace in my hand,
At the openness of my heart
At the adventurer in my mind, a free willing brain at command,
The relentless curiosity that sets me apart
But these don't live in monumental collisions,
They survive in the nooks of every day, where I dance without sound
In the synonymous joy I pair to my quotidian vision
Where time loses meaning and wonder is found
In this space between plans,
Where my world breathes free
I find myself wandering,
Untethered and at ease