From paths touching and intertwining

I believe in clapping and cheering

And turning backs and shaking heads

I believe in twists, turns

And bumpy roads

I have been swamped by cold looks and sour faces

Folded into warm embraces

Buffed and sanded

Cut and hammered

Grounded by my rough edges

I have seen the beauty of time

Creases of hurt

Transformed into wrinkles of wisdom

I have seen paint weather away in the wind

Revealing new layers and pigments

I need

A gate to open

A path to stray from

A sign to ignore

To be lost and found

And a chance try again

From trial, error

From rips, tears

I will become

A story

A memory saved in the back of your head

A reason 

To force and demand

And start over

Travel light with heavy blessings

By date of birth a misconception

How to fight a forceful perception

Inducement to end a ripple of turbulence

Decaying desire for eternal tranquilness

Questions answered with plutonium and gunpowder

Breath sustained by frail willpower

An emblem of right and free and immunity

Once erected to weave its unity

Corroded into a weapon of corruption

Perpetually blinded by untold assumption

Where melanin is the greatest epidemic

And poison grows and runs systemic

No home remedy can control the spreading

Each leaf of innocence must be worth defending

A few seconds of pain for a lifetime of happiness

Win a medal, a label, a name

And put your foe to eternal shame

But across the horizon lives another desire

To be known and admired and aspired to be

For your shouts to be heard and accomplishments acknowledged

And finally your name is spoken like the wind blows

But the core is empty and dry

And passion is free but hard to find

Hands are full but nothing is held

Until eyes are locked and gazes are drawn

And a feeling is found to patch a hole

But something throbs behind your eyes

Foraging through ribbons for a knot to untie

A perpetual wonder; an endless need

For an apple not within reach

A mountain that rises above its peak

A hard red alarm in the dark before dawn

The crackle of tires on rough pavement

A short drive to a long season

Orders, directions, fingers pointing

A black shell on bruised shoulders

The sun beginning to show

Slice.

Blue blades cut through tension on the surface

And words

They’re said, spat

Thrown

And heads turn, glance 

Mouths shut, closed

They tell you to improve, change, 

Do it better

And the rubber grabs, twists

They need more

Ranks. 

Stacks of space, lines, numbers

Fists clench

Eyes wander 

but where do they point

Different directions

Infinitely up and down

To the clouds

To the dirt

but what’s the difference

With a force that’s high and strong

And I am neither

My edges are rough

They are folded and wrinkled

And my thoughts are flat

But give me a pen
And out will flow sentences
Words harsh and solid

we can’t escape the muddy grasps 

of the inevitable conclusion sentenced to 

us all when we moved into our cell

and decided to be 

poor

to live in a spinning circle with centrifugal 

force that has thrown us into the edges when we try to resist

that our roots dictate our wealth and

the tools we use

to build and destroy our future

and determine the quality 

of our lives that we combine to create 

new beings to grow and join

the workforce knowing that our lives 

depend

on the bills we make at the end of the day 

and the ones we will never be able to pay

because someone 

above that decides our wages uses the term

minimum

like we give the least effort

and that is the most harmful and

the leader of the cycle that puts us back in 

our jail where we remain

stuck

so we can soak up the leftovers that 

we need

and others reject and throw away

But named a racing shell and sweeping blades

Mere means of travel to intense battle

Respected by foolish men for decades

Why do I lay awake during the night

Hoping to see my name ranked at the top

Why surge forward when muscles cease to fight

Pain flows through our legs why refuse to stop

Wake before sun to hear angry voices

Rip and grow callouses for large races

Critique the stroke to give the coach choices

But ports and starboards share warm embraces

Discipline exchanged for square and feather

Pain we feel, but feel together



(artemis rowing club)

Don’t crash through the waves without tightening the ropes

In the shallows I wade and watch you lose grip

You must smell the mist before taking a sip

For the scent in a stoney blur, you may grope

Don’t sail away on your stolen ship

When the current slams you; an icy whip,

I will not wait while you whimper and mope

In the shallows I wade and watch you lose grip

Your eyes, bloodshot, a trembling eclipse

You may tumble and trip on these slippery slopes

Don’t sail away on your stolen ship

Lost you may be as the euphoria slips

When you’re trapped by the dark, you must feel and cope

In the shallows I wade and watch you lose grip

Sit and stare as your sheen of light rips

Don’t let the night swallow your twisted hope

Don’t sail away on your stolen ship

In the shallows I wade and watch you lose grip